


of all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you

by fandomsnthings



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Also just a lot of fluff bc kids, Baby Fic, F/M, and probably some angst eventually, bc im trash, depends on what I want, i love these two, whats new
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 10:16:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13211670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsnthings/pseuds/fandomsnthings
Summary: Always is a simple word. Yet, it can mean the world.----Winnara oneshot book.(Probably mostly baby fics.)These are in no particular order, and probably never will be unless I indicate, so keep that in mind. Sporadic updates.Also, they may not all take place in the same timeline. For example, in one oneshot, they may have a child, but in the next they don’t and the time that they would’ve had the child had already passed. Basically, it’s a huge mess of lack of continuity because I can do what I want, but it’s okay, you’ll figure it out.Title from Cecilia and the Satellite because its the song they danced to in that one season one episode and I cry every time.





	1. of all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you.

**Author's Note:**

> So some of this is outdated because I started writing it in April before the end of season two and the start of season three, so don't be too shocked if some of the stuff in this is completely irrelevant to the show at this point. I tried to get rid of some of it but some minor stuff, like the fact that Snapper doesn't exist as an authority anymore, doesn't effect the story that much and at this point I just don't know how to fix it to bring it up to date and how to state it in a way that I like it SOOOOO just a warning. Also if things don't really line up with the ins and outs of Kara's powers and stuff, I'm sorry, I tried, I'm not good at keeping all that straight in my head. 
> 
> On with the story!

"W-Winn?"

Her voice is shaky. It's unlike her, and it immediately makes him start to feel anxious.

"Kara!? Are you hurt? Do you need help? I thought you were ho-"

Kara cuts him off, "I am home. I'm f-fine. Well, I'm not really fine but- you know what? J-just please come home. I really need to talk to you. In person."

Winn racks his brain for things he may have done wrong over the past few days that could've made his girlfriend act like this.

He comes up short. They just had their anniversary, nothing bad was going on at CatCo for all that he knew. She only acted slightly strange last night when he'd gotten home from work, but even then he thought she was just tired from fighting a rather strong alien earlier that day.

_What the hell did I do?_

"Kara, please tell me what's wrong. Please."

"I can't. Just come home."

"Will they even let me leave?" Winn says desperately, clutching his phone tighter. He's already started raising himself out of the seat in anticipation of having to run past anyone in this office that may keep him from reaching Kara.

"Tell Alex. She'll- She'll understand."

Winn takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. What could be so dire but secretive that Kara has only confided in Alex? What did he  _do_?

"Okay, babe. I love you so much, alright? Try to calm down, this stress isn't good for you."

"O-Okay. See you soon."

Three beeps signify that Kara has hung up, and Winn feels a pang in his chest. No 'I love you'?

Something must be horribly wrong.

He sets his phone down on the desk in front of him and swivels his chair, trying to spot Alex somewhere among the mass of agents diligently working in the DEO headquarters.

After a good thirty seconds of feeling like wanting to rip his hair out, he spots her, her face buried in a tablet she's holding in her hands.

"Alex! ALEX!" He yells across the room, gathering all of his things sloppily and shoving them in his bag before running up to her.

Alex raises her eyebrows, "Going somewhere?"

"Kara. Kara called, you know, from home, since she's not here right now, obviously, and she says she needs to tell me something. I-I'm really worried about her. She said to come tell you-"

Alex's face changes from confused to worried, and it does nothing to calm him down, "Go, Winn. She needs you."

"Can you please tell me what's going on!?" He pleads.

"No. This is something that you and Kara need to talk about together. I have no place in telling you."

"But-"

"Winn, the sooner you leave and go to her, the sooner you're going to know what's going on."

Winn sighs, turning quickly on his heels to climb the stairs that lead to the exit as quickly as he can.

"Hey, Winn?"

He turns his head and looks down at Alex from the top step. Her lips are in a firm line and she has the tablet clutched to her chest firmly, as if holding onto something is going to bring both of them back down to the planet. "Yeah?"

"Take care of my sister."

He nods, wringing his hands.

"Always."   
-

"Kara, babe! I'm here. And I brought food!"

He holds up the bag of sticky buns in one hand and the bag of potstickers in another, even though his girlfriend is no where to be seen.

"Kara?"

He heard a soft pitter-patter of feet coming down the main hallway, and Kara soon emerges, clad in a robe, looking incredibly small. Her eyes are red and she looks to Winn to be shaking. Her arms are wrapped around herself, and she looks up at him slightly as she approaches him.

"I'm not sure I can eat anything."

"What!? Kara Danvers, not wanting to eat! What's happened in this world!?" Winn jokes nervously, a smirk finding its way onto his lips.

It soon falls when Kara's shoulders slump even further and she goes and sits on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. He sets the bags on the kitchen table, and paces over to sit next to her, putting his arm around her to pull her to his chest.

She's stiff against him, and he rubs her shoulder in attempt to get her to calm down.

"Please tell me what's going on."

She sighs deeply, "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Kara."

She squeezes her eyes shut and her hands into fists.

"I'm pregnant."

Winn sucks in a breath, nerves starting to noticeably encompass him. That is  _not_  what he was expecting.

"And I'm really scared. What if it isn't healthy? W-What if I can't protect it from people who want to hurt me? What if something goes wrong? I-"

"Kara, please look at me," Winn can't help it, but there are tears in his eyes and he's slightly choked up.

She lifts her head to look into his eyes, and she can tell that he's utterly shellshocked, but he's trying to keep it hidden for her.

"How did you find out?" He murmurs out, placing a hand lightly on her cheek.

"I-I wasn't feeling well, and I could feel  _something_ , and I just had a feeling. I went to Alex, and told her, and I took a test and it was positive but you know those things can't always be accurate so one of the medics did an ultrasound at the DEO and sure enough, there was a baby."

She sucks in a shaky breath, "I heard the heartbeat, and I fell in love. I'm already so attached, Winn. I can't lose it, but I don't know how this whole thing is going to turn out. The medic said she thinks it looks healthy, but she isn't specially trained in that kind of stuff, so what if it isn't and I-"

"A baby."

Her blue eyes shoot to him again, "Have you not been listening to a word I've been saying?"

"We're having a baby."

"Yeah, but-"

He leans forward and kisses her forehead, "Kara, let us be happy for a minute, okay? We can worry about potential things later. You heard the doctor, and she said the baby was healthy. Trust in that."

Kara leans into him, using the sound and pattern of his steady heartbeat to calm her down, "Alright."

"A baby," he says again in disbelief.

"I know," she murmurs. "I was scared you would be mad."

"Why would I be mad?"

"We're not married or anything, I fight crime half my life, and it's just really,  _really_ , unexpected," she breathes out a laugh that Winn can't tell is genuine or not.

"We kinda do unexpected stuff all the time. Especially you," Winn says, trying to reassure her.

"I know, but for some reason this seems like it's on a completely different level."

They pause for a moment before Winn continues.

"I'm gonna be everything my father wasn't. I promise," he demands softly.

She smiles slightly at him, letting her worries and fears completely wash away, at least for right now.

"You'll be amazing. I know you will."

She leans her head against his shoulder again and hums softly, and he chuckles slightly.

"You want that food now, don't you?"

"You know me too well."  
\----

"You're going to cry, Winn. I know you will."

"No I won't," he's standing next to Kara as she lays on an infirmary bed at the DEO, clutching her hand tightly in his.

"Yes, you will. You're a big softy, and when you hear the heartbeat and find out we're having a  _son,_ you're going to melt," she says pointedly.

"If by son you mean daughter, you would be correct."

She laughs slightly, "Why do we care so much?"

Winn grins, "I don't think we do. I think we just want to be right and beat each other."

After really processing that they were going to have a baby, they were more worried about any risks than anything else. Conveniently they'd found a former doctor who had been trained in prenatal development and birth and worked at the DEO, who they trusted to deal with their situation, and they figured she would be easier to see on a given basis considering they both have busy schedules. The woman had previously determined that the baby was and should be completely healthy.

The doctor came through the door, smiled at them slightly, and started setting up the equipment.

Winn squeezes Kara's small hand, his heart starting to speed in his chest, "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."   
-   
"You totally cried."

"Hey, so did you!"

Winn shrugs his shoulders, smiling at his feet as they walked down the street on their way back to their apartment, "Who wouldn't? We're having a baby girl. And she's gonna be beautiful, just like her Momma."

Kara laughs as her boyfriend wraps an arm around her waist, laying his hand on her swollen stomach and rubbing his thumb up and down against the fabric of her shirt, "I'm sure she's going to be beautiful, but I think she's gonna look more like her Daddy." She shifts her gaze up at him, "I hope she has your eyes."

He pouts jokingly, "I want her to have yours."

They fall silent, before Winn picks up a more serious topic, "Okay, I know crime is on the low lately, you haven't had to do much because James is taking care of a lot of it, and so are Alex and J'onn and Maggie, but if you feel the need to respond to something, please be careful. I can't have either of you getting hurt."

She leans her head onto his shoulder, "I know. I'll do everything I can to keep her safe."

"Motherly instincts already?"

Kara smirks, "I don't know, maybe."

"You're gonna be the best. And Alex is gonna be the best and most dedicated aunt. She's already commissioned me to make a tiny DEO uniform for her to give to the baby. Even though the baby is like, my kid, so it doesn't make any sense."

As they pass a park bench, Winn sits and pulls Kara onto his lap in a fit of giggles.

"That's Alex for you," Kara says, recovering, pushing her glasses up, and wrapping her arms softly around his neck. She leans her head atop of his. "I'm so happy, Winn," she murmurs.

"Me too, sweetheart." He places a hand on her stomach again, "We can't wait to meet you, little nugget. We love you so much."

A knowing look crosses Kara's face, "She's moving. She always moves when you talk to her."

Winn's eyes light up like fireworks, and he excitedly says, "Really!?"

"Yep," Kara nods. "Already a Daddy's girl, I see. You'll be able to feel her soon, I promise."

"Eh, she's gonna love you just as much." He leans his head up to kiss her jawline as she yawns, "C'mon, let's go home. It's been a big day."

"Alrighty." Kara swoops her legs over so her feet hit the ground again, standing up and pulling Winn up behind her. She wraps her arms around his waist as they begin to walk, "I love you, Winn. Always."

Winn smiles, and in his head he can feel his like fall into place. He's no longer a mix of strained emotions from running after Kara and trying to get her to date him, because, eventually it worked, and he's not full of endless amounts of bitterness and resentment about his father. He's sure he's finally found his purpose, found contentment. He's gonna continue to be a dedicated agent, and he's gonna be an even more dedicated father and boyfriend.

He never knew if he would actually find what complete and utter happiness feels like, but he thinks he's found it.

And it feels  _amazing._

"I love you too. Always."   
\----

When Alex yells his name as she's running across the headquarters to reach the exit, his heart drops into his stomach.

"You need to come with me, Winn. Now."

He jumps from his seat, not bothering to take any of his things with him, "Why!?"

Alex doesn't stop to respond. Instead, she continues pacing up the stairs and starts to speak to him as he follows, "Kara responded to an emergency, involving another alien. She got tossed around quite a bit, and she called me in a panic saying that she hasn't felt the baby move. Other agents have already cleaned up the situation, so WE are going right to the apartment to assess this new situation."

All the blood drains from his face, and he becomes pale. He starts to feel faint, and has an overwhelming urge to try and run as fast as he could to get to Kara, wherever she is.

Their baby is just like her mother- she's always moving and drawing attention to herself. For her to not be moving, to not have been moving in a long time, doesn't send great messages of hope to Winn's brain.

He doesn't realize it, but he has halted his movement on the stairs, clutching onto the railing with so much force his knuckles turn white, "Is she at home? W-Why didn't she call me?"

Alex stops in her tracks and turns to face him, "She was afraid you'd be mad at her, and told me to not tell you, but I wasn't about to keep the condition of your child a secret from you. I love my sister with all I have, but her mind goes foggy when she's panicking. I know her. I know she needs you there."

Winn nods quickly, his mouth suddenly feeling dry and incapable of saying anything.

"Lets go," Alex says, turning back to face forward, before Winn murmurs softly.

"I just started to feel her m-move."

"What?" Alex walks down the few stairs that remained between them, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"T-The baby. She's gotten big enough, a-and strong enough for me to be able to feel her. I can't lose her."

"Winn," Alex sighs, wrapping her arms around his stiff body in a hug that he doesn't return, "I'm scared too, but come on, we gotta go to her."

Winn nods shakily, taking the lead as they continue walking up the stairs.

 _God, please let them be okay._  
-

Her head feels cloudy, like she can't think or focus on anything no matter how hard she tries. She doesn't know if she's exhausted, distressed, or a mixture of both.

She tries to hone in on her hearing, trying to sense if Alex is close yet, because she  _needs_  her, but whatever is happening in her head won't let her, and she gives up. She drops her head back onto the pillow that she had haphazardly thrown onto the couch when she knew there was no way she would make it to the bedroom, and places both hands on her abdomen, searching for any source of movement, of life.

There's none.

She sighs, her devastation seeping over her. She knows her mind shouldn't fade to the worst, but she knows it's inevitable for her right now, and she lets tears leak out of her eyes.

"Come on, baby girl. Come on, please. Move for me. Wake up for Mommy," she says, continuing to keep her hands stagnant, firmly pressed against the blue fabric of her new Supergirl outfit, the one that Winn made that he promised would hide her pregnancy from the world since her bump is still smaller, even for right now at six months along, and that she didn't even have the energy to take off after she flew home.

She chokes out a sob when no little hands or feet press back, "P-Please, little one. Please."

Suddenly, knocks sound at the door, accompanied by yells of her name by Alex.

"Open the door, babe! We both forgot our keys!" Kara stiffens when she hears Winn's voice. She should've known Alex would bring him anyway.

She tries to sit up on the couch, but her entire body feels like lead and she decides it's best for her to succumb to it. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

"Kara!?" She can tell that Winn sounds desperate and it sends a pang to her heart.

Before she can find some way to make noise, the door is being slammed in by Winn and Alex collectively, and they both look around frantically before spotting her in the living room.

Winn runs to her and falls to his knees next to her, pulling her upper body to his chest in attempt to provide some sort of comfort, "Kara, what happened? What's wrong?"

"I-I don't really know. I j-just followed my instinct, but I shouldn't have gone out when I'm this far along, and now she won't move and I just keep talking and talking to her and s-she won't move!" She sobs, clutching onto Winn's button up shirt, feeling more vulnerable than ever.

"Kara, you need to calm down, alright? This isn't going to help the anything," Alex's voice sounds distant to her. She feels a soft hand stroke her head, and she knows it's her sister, and she reaches up slowly to grasp it desperately.

"We need to go get you checked out. We won't know anything for certain until we get you and the baby checked out. Everything's okay. Everything's going to be okay," Winn says soothingly, trying to keep himself calm.

"Are you m-mad?"

Winn sniffles slightly, holding back tears he didn't know he had brewing, and pulls her closer to him, if that's even possible. He presses his lips to her forehead, keeping them there as he whispers to her, "No, Kara, no. You acted on your instinct, your usual instinct. You didn't know things would get that bad. It's not your fault."

"It wasn't even that b-bad. I don't know what happened!"

"Winn," Alex says urgently from where she's standing behind Kara's head, still clutching her hand, "We need to go get help."

Winn nods, "Kara, we have to get you in normal clothes, and then we're going to go see what's going on."

Kara doesn't like how he's talking to her like she's a child, like she's vulnerable, but she guesses that's what she is right now. She can sense that she doesn't have any physical damage, really, but the mixture of her emotional stress and the way that fighting crime and writing articles and this baby drains her energy is enough to make feel this terrible.

She nods slowly, "Winn, I'm really tired."

"I know, sweetie. Close your eyes if you need to, okay?"

Kara complies, and feels herself being lifted up in his strong arms, hearing the soft bantering of him and Alex back and forth: "Where are you going?" "To get her dressed?" "How come you think you have the right to see her like that?" "She's pregnant! It's nothing I haven't seen before!"

 _They're so ridiculous. I love them so much._ Kara thinks the smile that's formed in her head is translated onto her lips.

After that, she succumbs to her tiredness, her world fading to black, and her last thought is of her baby.

 _Please be okay._  
\----

When she wakes up, she's connected to oxygen, and she hears soft sniffles from next to her. She turns her head, and when she finds that the source is Winn, whose clutching her hand, her heart drops.

"Winn?"

His gaze shoots up from where it had been positioned on the floor, his eyes widening and the grip on her hand getting tighter. "Kara," he breathes out in, seemingly, relief.

"What happened?" She asks confusedly.

"Nothing, really. You just weren't waking up, so we put you on oxygen for precaution," he says, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"How long have I been out?"

Winn glances at his watch, "Five hours?"

Kara gasps softly, the only word she's able to form being, "Oh."

She didn't think she was  _that_ tired.

She takes a minute to take in Winn's disheveled appearance, especially his red eyes.

"Why were you crying?"

A small smile spreads across his face, "She's perfectly fine."

She's confused for a moment before a lightbulb goes off in her head.  _The baby._  She completely forgot about the baby.

Tears well up in her eyes for what feels like the millionth time that day, and she reaches over to him, hooking the arm that wasn't occupied by his hands over his neck, and hugging him, "Thank Rao."

"I may have teared up a little when they played her hearbeat again."

"Oh yeah, a  _little,_ " Kara jokes back, already feeling a thousand times better than before.

She pulls away and Winn pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket, "I asked them to print a new picture." He hands it to Kara, "Look, she's sucking her thumb. Maybe she's trying to tell us that she's alright."

"Why wasn't she moving?" Kara says halfheartedly, enraptured by the photo in front of her.

"Doc said she was just sleeping," Winn shrugged. "Maybe she was as tired as you were."

"She shouldn't be!" Kara says indignantly. "She keeps me up all night when she's rolling around in there, which she does even when she's sleeping."

Winn laughs, running a hand over her stomach softly, "Sorry, babe. I guess she just likes to annoy her Momma." He lowers his head towards her baby bump, "Baby girl, give your mother a break."

"And never scare us like that again," Kara adds in sternly, placing her hand atop his.

"Yeah, baby girl, please. We don't think it's funny." Winn presses a soft kiss to the fabric of her shirt. It's something that she hates- she thinks it's weird- but she guesses that, right now, it's appropriate and she figures it's comforting to him and it also kind of feels right to her.

She reaches down and runs her fingers through his black hair. "I can't wait to meet her and see you hold her for the first time."

Winn looks over at the ultrasound picture that Kara laid on the side table and smiled, "I can't wait to see her perfect little face."

"However," Kara says pointedly, "We  _can_  wait another three months for her. We don't need her pulling this again and then having her come early."

Winn nods, and he thinks that he's finally calming down after this hectic, terrifying day.

He sees Kara drifting off again, and he pushes himself to his feet before bending down and kissing her lips, then her forehead.

"I love you, Kara."

A small smile pulls on her lips as her eyes fall closed.

"I love you."  
\-------

Kara loves being pregnant, despite the hardships it has thrown at her.

She loves feeling her baby girl kick, and she loves singing and talking to her even if everyone else but Winn thinks she's being odd. She loves how James has gotten Snapper to lay off her at work, at least a little bit. She loves how Alex has practically set up a second nursery at her own apartment for whenever she may watch the baby, and how Mon-El, Lena, and Maggie combined have bought all the clothes and toys she thinks exist for babies. She loves how J'onn is already taking on the role of a Grandpa that every little girl deserves since the baby won't have a biological one.

Most of all, she loves Winn and how much he loves their baby. How his eyes light up whenever their little one kicks him when he talks to her. How he constantly goes out of his way to make sure she's comfortable and happy. How he gets up every night to get her cravings with nothing but a smile on his face.

"Kara!"

It's then that she realizes she's sitting at her desk at work, and James is standing in front of her. Her mind was wandering again. It's hard for it to not when she's constantly bored, since she's not out participating in the action of the city.

"Mhm?" She hums, moving a gaze up to his face.

"Are you okay? Do you want to go home?" He asks, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Kara sits up immediately, trying her best to look attentive and awake. She wants everyone to treat her as they normally would, not throwing some kind of pity party or giving her special treatment. "Oh, yeah! I'm perfectly fine. Just tired, is all." She places a hand on her eighth month bump, "And uncomfortable."

"You sure?"

Before Kara can respond, she hears footsteps bounding behind her and a sing-songy, "Kara!"

She swivels around abruptly, a smile forming on her face at Winn practically skipping up to her with a bag of food in his hands.

"Here is lunch for my beautiful girlfriend, because just from texting you I could tell you weren't having the best day," Winn says, setting down the bag in front of her.

"Bless you," she sighs, and he leans down so she can wrap him in a hug without any hassle.

"Y'know," James butts in,"You can go on maternity leave whenever you want."

Winn sighs in relief, "Thank God you said that, too. She doesn't listen to me when I tell her. She just thinks I'm being overprotective."

Kara folds her arms,"Guys, I'm perfectly fine!"

"You deserve a break, Kara. Since you're not out saving National City half the time anymore, at least for right now, you're putting your heart and soul into this job, and I can tell it's taking a lot out of you. You deserve to just relax at home and get ready for your baby," James says insistently.

Winn nods along, "She's going to be here so,  _so_ soon. You deserve time to yourself before she comes."  
Winn thinks for a minute, "We also, like, barely have the nursery ready, and that kinda stresses me out. And you yourself said you don't want me to do it all by myself and that you want to have a say in everything. We can't do that if you're always here."

Kara still doesn't look convinced, so James adds in, "I've got things under control here. And me and everyone else have things under control," he gestures to the skyline seen from the window, "out there. I promise. You have nothing to worry about."

"Fine," Kara grumbles. "I'll start next week."

Winn grins and gives Jimmy a grateful look, mouthing 'Thank you' to him. The other man nods knowingly at him.

Winn bends down again, pressing a kiss against the side of Kara's head, "I gotta go back to work. I'll see you at home, baby."

Kara leans into his torso when he stands up again, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Mm, okay. If you have to," she hums, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. But we'll be home in," he glances at his watch,"three hours. I love you!"

She smiles blissfully, "I love you, too."

She watches him walk away from her desk and towards the elevators, her smile remaining on her face. She doesn't know what she did to get so lucky, to have him.

 _Yep,_ she thinks.  _He's definitely what I love the most._

She feels the baby kick and rolls her eyes, placing a hand on her stomach.

_Except for you, baby girl. I love you_ **_and_ ** _your Daddy the most._  
_\---_

"This is really quite... unpleasant."

"You know, by now, normal people are screaming in pain, so I think you're doing alright."

Kara smiles slightly, "I'm by no means a normal person."

"You got that right," Winn says jokingly, leaning back in the chair that was situated near her bed.

Kara had been in labor since midnight the night before, and its noon now. They'd stayed home and worked through it a bit until the DEO really officially opened for the day, but as soon as it did, Winn's nervous brain required them to rush there as quickly as possible. They guess their baby girl is just taking her sweet time.

"I can't believe we're gonna meet her so soon," Kara murmurs. Her hand runs across her stomach slowly. "Winn, I need you to listen to me."

"Mhm?"

"I don't want to make you freak out-"

Winn cuts her off. "You know those words automatically make me freak out," he laughs nervously, trying to sound confident, but failing.

"If this whole thing doesn't work out like planned, if anything happens, tell me that you will make sure the baby's alright, b-before me."

It seems like all the happiness is entirely sucked out of the tiny private medical room they've been provided, away from everyone else, so they could experience some kind of normal.

Winn sucks in a breath, "Kara, everything is gonna be fine."

"But if it isn't," Kara says slowly, slightly wincing from a contraction, "I need you to do that for me."

"There's no reason why everything won't be okay," Winn says insistently. "You're perfectly healthy, the baby is perfectly healthy-"

"Winn, all kinds of things can happen during births of any kind, involving any kinds of people, of normal, healthy people. Any kinds of complications. This is probably even more risky since she's half Kryptonian-half human." She lets out a breath, "I just want her to be safe."

Winn shuts his eyes, reaching forward to grab her hand and pull it up to his lips, kissing her knuckles softly, "Nothing is gonna happen to you. Either of you."

Kara opens her mouth to interject, but he speaks again before she can, "But I'll make sure she's okay."

"Thank you," Kara murmurs softly.

She winces again, squeezing Winn's hand, "Okay, this is really getting old."

"You heard the doctor. Only a teeny bit longer," Winn says encouragingly. "Just think, it's not gonna be just us anymore. It's gonna be us and a little one."

"And our lives are gonna be so much better. If that's even possible."  
-

"Oh my God. Look at her!"

Winn can't hold back his tears as the baby girl, screaming and squirming, is placed on Kara's chest. Usually, the sight of blood would make him queasy and anxious, but he can't help as tears flood his eyes.

He's a father. He has a baby girl.

His gaze shoots from the baby up to Kara's face. She's sobbing, and Winn can't blame her.

"She's perfect," Kara murmurs between cries.

Winn leans down and presses a kiss to her temple, "So perfect. You both are."   
-

"How're you feeling?"

She's so exhausted and feels so weak, but all of her worries about any complications have washed away. She smiles at him, her blue eyes sparkling, "I feel amazing."

She moves her eyes from Winn to the baby in her arms, cradling her tighter against her chest, "She's so beautiful."

"You got that right," Winn replies, standing from his chair and stretching his cramped arms. "The prettiest thing in the universe, if you ask me."

He reaches down and strokes her tiny, soft cheek with his thumb, and the slightest of smiles form on her face. It's then that he knows he's never going back- this little thing has him wrapped around her finger infinitely.

Kara looks up at him, seeing how soft and bright his green eyes are while looking at their child. They're still gleaming with tears, but those familiar crinkles that show up at the corners of them whenever he smiles indicate that they are far from upset ones.

"Here, Winn, take her. I need to stretch. I'm not really used to," she pauses, trying to form the right thought that didn't make her sound pathetic, "not doing any activity for this long."

"Don't mind if I do," Winn says, reaching down and softly pulling his daughter into his arms, cradling her to his chest. Kara doesn't think she's ever seen him be so gentle.

"Hey pretty girl," he whispers, just loud enough for Kara to hear. "God, you're so perfect. Just like your Mommy."

He pauses to press a kiss to the side of her head, which contains slight wisps of what seems to be dark hair, before he continues.

"I promise I'll always protect you, and make sure you're safe, and I'm probably gonna hover over you until you're eighteen and you'll probably get mad at me but I won't care, because at least you'll be safe."

Kara laughs slightly at that one, and he turns back and smirks at her.

"Me and Mommy will never let anyone get away with hurting you. You were born into this... rather odd, and sometimes dangerous world, but you have so many people who love you, who haven't even met you yet, so I'm sure you are gonna be just fine."

There's a knock on the door, followed by a gasp, and both Winn and Kara look up to find Alex with a hand clamped over her mouth in shock and adoration. She had been on trip for the DEO for three days when Kara had gone into labor, and she wasn't able to get back immediately.

"Hey Alex," Winn whispered, noticing that the baby had fallen asleep against his chest.

Alex slowly approached him, reaching down and stroking the baby's sparse hair, "Oh my God. She's beautiful." Her eyes shoot back up to Winn, then to Kara, "Can I hold her? I promise I like washed my hands-"

"Of course," Winn smiles, handing the sleeping baby over to her gently. She was taking on the role of the protective aunt already.

"Oh, look at you," Alex murmurs softly. "You're so pretty." Without looking up, she asked the new parents, "Is she healthy?"

"Utterly and completely," Kara said with satisfaction and a hint of pride.

"What's her name? Have you decided yet? I know you had trouble figuring it out."

Saying they had trouble was an understatement. They could not agree on any names at all for the majority of the pregnancy, until they found one in a baby name book they had been flipping through all night one time when Kara suddenly got stressed about the baby not having a name.

Kara took a deep breath before speaking, really hoping her sister would like it, "Her name is Harper Alexandra Schott."

Alex spins around to face her, and her eyes are wide with tears brewing in them, "Really?"

"Really. We want her to be just like her Auntie Alex when she's older, so having your name as her middle name seems like a good start," Winn confirms.

Alex sniffles, smiling at him and then down at the baby, "Thank you. So much."

The woman starts to pace the room, snuggling the baby close to her chest. She murmurs, "Wow, you look just like your Momma, huh? But I have a feeling you're gonna be super goofy like your Daddy. Well, I mean, your Momma is pretty goofy too, when she's not being all serious and saving the city. You just got it right in your genes."

"I hope she doesn't have any powers, or at least any that really show themselves."

Both Winn and Alex's gaze shoots to Kara as she speaks suddenly. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and for some reason she looks really small.

"When I finally made it here to Earth, when I grew up here, I stressed everyone out who knew about my powers. I was constantly anxious that someone was going to find out about them, that one day I would just forget and subconsciously do something to save someone, or I would just get angry and lash out and  _somethin_ g would happen, and I would get found out. I just don't want her to grow up with that fear, too. She doesn't deserve that."

"Kara, you know we will do anything to keep her safe, in any circumstance," Alex says soothingly. "Whether she has powers or not. We'll just have to be more on top of it and more protective if she has them."

"I don't want her to get hurt, or feel obligated to do anything like I did. I want her to be able to be normal, because, sometimes, I wish I was too. I love being Supergirl, don't get me wrong, but-"

"Kara," Winn sits next to her on the small bed, grasping her hand in his and squeezing it gently, trying to get his point across,"She'll be okay. I'll make sure of it. And, y'know, I wouldn't hate if she had strong powers."

"Why?" Kara looks up at him with pleading eyes, searching for something to not make her feel so lousy, because she doesn't want to feel like this, not right after her child was born.

"Because then she'd be  _exactly_ like you, and that's all I want. Because you're incredible, and I love you just the way you are."

She leans into him with a small smile, "Thank you."

"I'm totally gonna steal you, you're too freaking cute," Alex mutters to Harper, who had cozied herself right into her aunt's chest.

Winn's head jerked to look at the woman's beaming face.

"Oh no, you won't!"

"Okay, maybe not  _steal,_ but she's definitely allowed to sleep over in her room at Aunt Alex's apartment any time. And I might build myself a makeshift bed at your apartment, at least for the first few weeks. Just to make sure you all are okay."

"Oh really? And will you make it easy to pry her from you?"

"No. Definitely not."   
—-  
Harper's favorite color is purple, her favorite song is anything from Wicked, her favorite people are her Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Alex, her favorite activity is to sleep on and drool all over the chest of anybody holding her, and her best quality is how she makes literally everybody melt when they so much as look at her.

Or, at least, that's what Winn thinks. She is only 2 months old.

A very advanced 2 month old, if he does say so himself.

Perhaps it's because of the Kryptonian DNA in her, or maybe she's just brilliant, but she had already started smiling, and she was constantly observing everything around her with a look of fascination on her face.

"Okay, princess. Today, you're going to work with me, because Momma is going back to work too. Isn't that exciting?"

Winn had been hesitant, but Kara had finally gotten to him and was returning back to CatCo, as well as full time back saving the city. After Harper was born, she had done things here or there that she knew James and the DEO weren't going to be able to handle, but for the most part she stayed home and bonded with her daughter.

Winn, on the other hand, had to be practically dragged off to the DEO by Alex after his three week break from work to stay home with his girls. The last thing he ever wanted to do was go back to work, especially after seeing Harper's precious face all day, every day, and being able to wait on Kara hand and foot, no matter how much she hated it, because she deserves the world.

Harper only blinks up at her father, making him grin, and he leans down and presses a kiss to her cheek.

"And Aunt Alex is gonna be there, and she's probably going to scoop you right up. I probably won't even see you until we have to go home!"

At that, the baby smiles. Winn rolls his eyes jokingly, "Of course you'll smile about Aunt Alex. What about me? Am I chopped liver?"

He tickles her belly lightly, causing another grin and something of a giggle from Harper, "There, that's the stuff. You're. So. Freaking. Cute," he says, separating each word with a kiss on her cheek.

"How are the two of my favorite people?"

Winn turns his head as Kara walks out into the living room, clad in her Supergirl attire, looking as amazing as ever. She looks so  _confident_ , he thinks. That's one thing he loves the most about Kara being Supergirl: It has made her believe in herself so much more.

"Wow, look at you!" Winn grabs Harper as he stands from where he was on the floor, walking over to his girlfriend and kissing her on the forehead. "You look gorgeous, as always."

Kara smiles softly, "Why, thank you." She reaches and takes Harper from him, cuddling her close to her chest. The baby's tiny head ends up right upon her mother's family crest. The sight makes Winn's heart melt.

The little girl, even at two months old, adores her mother more than anything. Of course, she loves her father too, but she'll definitely end up being a Mommy's girl, much to Winn's dismay.

"I can't believe I have to leave her," she murmurs, pressing a kiss to her daughter's head,"She's way better than work."

"Hey, James needs you at the office. The city needs you to fight crime and aliens and all that stuff. And I know there's at least a tiny part of you that really wants some human interaction that doesn't include some form of baby talk," Winn says, smirking. "Plus, you'll probably be at the DEO like five times today, so you'll see her plenty."

"I just don't want her to be sad because I'm not there the whole time," Kara frowns, and Winn chuckles pulling her into a hug.

"She'll be fine. Between me and Alex and J'onn, she'll have enough people doting on her that she's not even gonna have time to miss you, I promise. Plus she's probably gonna sleep the whole time anyway," he says, and Kara nods against his shoulder. "I know it's sad, but I know you'll be okay, and I know she'll be okay."

Kara pulls out of his hug, sighing, "Alright." She looks down at her baby girl, "I guess it's time to finish getting ready. I gotta give you back to Daddy." She kisses her small wisps of black hair once again, "I love you so much, sweet girl."

Winn practically has to pry Harper from Kara's arms, and before the woman can reach their bedroom, her phone rings. She speaks in urgent whispers, and when she hangs up, her gaze shoots to Winn's, "Duty calls."

She strides towards the window, but Winn stops her before she can leave, "Kara?"

"Yeah?"

His lips make a firm line, and he clutches his daughter a little tighter, "Please be careful, okay? We can't lose you."

Kara nods firmly and quickly, "Of course. Always."

"Always."

The word makes his heart flutter.

He knows it's even more true now.


	2. bedtime stories.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s nothing that Harper loves more than learning about her parents’ past. 
> 
> Well, except her mother in general.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess this is just getting turned into a winnara one-shot book because I have too many ideas. They’ll probably be in no particular order because I have commitment issues.

"Momma?" 

"Yeah, baby?" 

"Can you tell me a bedtime story?" 

Kara paused before the exit to her daughter's room and turned back towards the tiny bed, her cape of her Supergirl outfit swishing as she went. The little girl was very smart and kept secrets very well, so Kara knew that she was able to reveal her identity to her daughter at a rather young age. 

"Well, how could I say no to that request!?" 

Harper giggled as her mother bounded back towards her and collapsed next to her in her bed, "Momma! That's silly!" 

Kara sat up and adjusted herself so she was sitting up slightly, pulling Harper in so she was cuddled against her chest.

"Hmm, what story do you want to hear today?" Kara asked, her voice lowering in volume significantly, as she stroked Harper's black hair, something that always calmed her down. 

"Something about you and Daddy," the little girl responded, her eyes shining with all the happiness and innocence that a little girl should have, as she looked up at her mother in admiration. 

Kara's heart melted a little bit then. She'd never have a bigger fan than her baby girl, who looked at her like she was all of the galaxies combined.

"Maybe we should get Daddy to come in here and help me tell the story. What do you think about that?" 

Harper yawned and nodded, and Kara laughed, pressing a kiss to her temple, "You're already sleepy? We haven't even started the story yet!" 

The little girl shrugged tiredly. Kara smiled at her softly. She was so perfect, in every way imaginable. She and Winn had gotten really lucky. 

"Winn! Come here! I need your help to tell a story!"

The sound of his footsteps as he walked from the living room were loud, loud enough to perk Harper up a little bit and make her laugh. As Winn appeared in the doorway, the child squealed and patted a spot next to her on the bed, on the other side than her mother was currently residing. 

"Don't mind if I do," Winn said as he plopped down on the bed, pressing a kiss to his daughter's cheek and his wife's lips in greeting. "What story?" 

"The WHOLEEEE thing!" Harper exclaimed, even though still sleepy, still curled up into her mother's side, but facing her father. "Like when you met, and when you fell in LOVE and when you had me!" 

"We might be here for a while then," Winn joked, before looking up at Kara, "Do you want to go put your pajamas on? To be more comfortable." He gestured to the blue fabric of her suit, "I designed that to be utilitarian, not comfy."

Kara smiled and shook her head, nodding her head towards Harper, whose head was resting on her mother and her body being squished between those of her parents, her eyelids drooping and opening as she tried to keep herself awake. "I don't want to disturb her," Kara whispered, "I'll be alright."

"You're not going out again tonight, are you?" 

"No, well, I hope not. I want to stay home with you guys, I feel like I haven't been here for more than two hours in years." 

"Mommy! Daddy! Tell the story!" Harper said exasperatedly, her eyes half closed. 

"Okay, okay, we'll get on with it," Winn said, tickling Harper's tummy, making her laugh and perk up more. 

"Winn, stop! We're trying to get her to sleep!" 

"Daddy, Daddy, stop!" Harper attempts to push his hands off of her, and he eventually lifts them in surrender. 

"Okay, so, once upon a time, it was Mommy's first day at the office, and when she was coming out of the elevator, she ran into me," Winn started. "It was very uncalled for." 

"Hey, I was nervous! Anyway, Daddy showed me where to go and who to talk to, and we were best friends right from that moment." 

Harper nodded along as Winn continued, "And then Mommy started to save people, because, for a while, she didn't use her powers. But she saved Auntie Alex, and other people saw her, so she had to start saving other people and working with Auntie Alex and Grandpa J'onn." 

"And a bunch of stuff happened with Daddy's father that you're to little to understand, but that's when Daddy realized he was in love with me, because he was really sad and I was there to make him feel better," Kara said, wincing internally at the memory of that week, where Winn's pain broke her heart every day. 

Harper frowned, "Daddy, don't be really sad!" 

Winn smiled, leaning forward to kiss her head once again, "It's alright, princess. You and Mommy make it so I'm almost never, ever sad." 

Satisfied with that answer, Harper taps Kara to continue. 

"But I didn't know that I loved Daddy until way after that. I've always loved him, but I just didn't realize it.  One day, though, I realized that I couldn't live without Daddy, and he was the only thing that was stopping my life from being complete. Well, except for you, of course." 

Harper smiled at that, but then questioned, "What made you realize you loved him?" 

Kara faltered at that. It was a pretty heavy story for a little girl to comprehend. In reality, Winn had been injured when an alien had escaped from its holdings at the DEO. Alex wasn't able to determine exactly what the alien had done to him, but he wasn't in good shape, and was in a coma for several days. Kara had a dream one night that he died, and when she woke up, the pain and fear of that possibly being a reality made her spill out all of her feelings to Alex, and then to Winn once he had woke up. 

From that moment, they had been together. 

"Well, Daddy was really sick, and we weren't sure he was going to be okay. I-I-"

Winn reached over and squeezed her hand in support. He knew how hard of a time it was for her. 

Kara gripped his hand before continuing, "I had a dream, where Daddy didn't wake up from his long sleep. I lost him. And I knew I didn't want to ever lose him, not like that, not ever." 

Harper nodded, a look of understanding and wisdom on her face that no other little girl her age probably has. 

"So I told him. I told him that I loved him, and that I wanted to spend my whole life with him." 

Harper grinned, as did Winn, that goofy smile that the two of them shared, and it made Kara smile back. 

"And then, not much longer after that, we found it we were having you, and it was the happiest time of our lives. Now, we have you, and we got married, and we're so, so happy," Winn said softly when he noticed her eyes had closed fully and her breathing slowed. 

He stroked her hair for a moment, then whispered, "Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you." 

Kara leaned and kissed Harper on the cheek, whispering the same as Winn, and carefully and slowly lifted her head off of her chest and onto the pillow. 

Winn waited for her, and when she reached him she grabbed his hand and they exited the room together. They stopped in the hallway before their daughter's door. 

"We're so lucky, Winn," Kara murmured, "She's the best thing." 

"That's definitely true," Winn replied softly, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her lips, "I love you so much." 

"I love you too." 

"Now, go get your pajamas on. I have to get up early for work, and I'd like to cuddle with my wife for a change. Y'know, I love that you fight crime and everything, but sometimes I just want to have some quality time with you." 

Kara chuckled, pulling Harper’s door shut slowly so it wouldn’t make much noise. “Okay, okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.” 

As Kara walked down the hallway towards their bedroom, her eyes caught the disaster that was the playroom. 

“Hey Winn?” 

He saw where she was looking, and he immediately sped-walked up to her and, taking her by the shoulders, directed her towards the bedroom, “Nope! No cleaning! We’re watching a movie together until little one wakes up and forces her way between us into our bed.” 

“Alright, alright, alright. But we have to be quiet, or else we’re not gonna have time together alone at all.”

“Deal.”

Kara was about to enter their room when Winn accidentally kicked a toy that, along with many others, was strewn through the hallway. He tried to be as quiet as he could about expressing his pain. 

“Winn!” She whisper-yelled, “You’re going to wake-“

“Momma?”

“-her up.”


	3. confessions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn spends a lot of time with her when she's in the coma. He has to. There's a lot of things that he doesn't have the guts to tell her when she's awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> set post-3x09
> 
> I started this forever ago, when the show was on its first hiatus of the season, and finally got a chance to finish it. I like it a bit.
> 
> (Also, cannanyone else absolutely not wait for the new episode tomorrow!?)

They spend a lot of time on the ship the first day. 

Alex is absolutely devastated and petrified, staying by her side constantly, J'onn is trying to do everything he can to distract himself from her and Alex's pain, focusing on the situation at hand with Reign, and Winn, well, Winn is just quiet. 

He's not good at expressing grief, and he hasn't been since his father first went to jail and he had no one to comfort him.

There are too many DEO agents surrounding him, too many things going on around him, too many urgent voices and fast steps. He can't cry and he can't yell and he's just so sad and angry. He's trapped within himself. 

He knows he has a job to do. 

He knows it's what Kara would want him to do. 

But why, then, does the thought make him want to break down even more? 

In the evening, the ship clears out, and J'onn says that he can go home. He and Alex stay in the hub of the ship, talking in hushed voices, and Winn figures they're going to be a while. 

He takes that as his cue. 

It takes him a while, but he finds the room. He finds her. 

He hadn't seen her yet. He was letting Alex grieve and he was doing anything to help J'onn figure out what to do about Reign. 

He had also heard Alex's gasps and, promptly after, cries when she had first walked into the small room after Mon-El had set her up in the tank where she would heal. The whole ship did. He knew if he went in then, he probably would have never come out. 

He doesn't like seeing her like this. He doesn't like not being able to hold her hand, or comfort her, even though she wouldn't know the difference.

He knows the difference, though, and he decides he's gonna talk to her anyway, at least for himself. 

"Geez, Kara. What did you get yourself into?" 

He lowers himself into the chair beside the tank that was left there from when Alex was in there earlier, and even though it's probably against his best interest, and if he does it he doesn't know if he's going to be able to pull away, he presses his hand to the thick glass surrounding Kara, halfway hoping it will compel her to wake up somehow.

"Please wake up, Kara. We need you. Alex needs you. I need you. You gotta wake up," Winn says, wincing as his eyes travel up her battered body to her face. 

"I already miss you so much, and I don't know if that really means much, but it's true. And I couldn't live without you. I wouldn't want to." 

He hears raised voices coming from the main hub of the ship, and he figures its about time to make his reappearance. He stands shakily from his chair, his fingers lingering against the glass that was separating him from his best friend. 

"I gotta go back to work, Kara," he whispers, and starts to walk towards the door. 

Something stops him, though, and before he can shut his mouth, he murmurs out the words that have been on the tip of his tongue for so many years. He figures, however, now or never.

"I love you. Please get better."  
—-

The second day, he spends every waking minute he can with her. 

He's become good at sneaking away, at making excuses that sound halfway plausible, that with Alex and J'onn's scattered minds, let him off easily.

He knows Alex is busy, but he also knows that she could come in at any time and catch him slacking off of his job. He doesn't know if she'd be nice about it or not. 

"Look, I know this whole Mon-El thing still has you all hung up. I wish you would just talk to me about it. I like helping you feel better, you know. I think it's one of my duties in life if we're being honest," he chuckles slightly, his head hanging down. 

"There's no signs that your brain activity is improving, so that's really scary for all of us. I really need you to fight, Kara. Fight for everyone you love, okay? Alex is really scared, and I am too. Fight, Kara." 

"Winn?" 

A voice from behind him startles him to the point of almost falling out of his chair, and his head shoots around to see where it came from. 

Alex is standing in the doorway, backlit from the hallway, her arms hugging herself. 

"Oh, h-hi, Alex. I was just-" 

"So this is where you've been disappearing to all day, huh?" The woman smiles a pained smile. 

"U-uh- well yeah," he figures lying won't do any good at this point.

Alex nods, walking closer to him until she can lay a hand on his shoulder.

She squeezes it slightly, "You really still love her, don't you?" 

Winn shrugs, preparing to be the most honest he's ever been in his life, "I-I think so?" He looks up at Alex, "You don't think it's just because of the situation we're in right now, do you?" 

The woman shakes her head, a small smile gracing her lips, "No. Not at all. I don't think you ever stopped loving her, from the moment you met her. I just think you stopped showing it because of James and Mon-El." 

A warmth fills Winn's chest, "Do you ever think she could love me back? I think she's already made it quite clear-" 

"When she wakes up, give her a chance to work out her feelings for Mon-El. And then, when the time seems right, just tell her. Trust me. I know she stills has feelings for you, even though it doesn't seem like it sometimes."

Alex reaches over and grasps his hand, and he squeezes it back. He looks up at her, "Thank you, Alex." 

She nods firmly, before starting to leave the room, "C'mon, you have to leave too." 

"Why?" 

"We're gonna try to wake her up. Mon-El has some sort of plan involving Brainy that he thinks will work." For the first time in the 2 days, Alex looks hopeful. 

"Are you sure she's ready?" Winn asks worriedly, standing from the stool.

"She's Kara. Have some faith," Alex says, a small smile pulling at her lips, before leaving the room and leaving him alone once again with Kara. 

He looks back down at this woman he loves, and prays to god that this all works. 

He knows he still has a lot of feelings to sort through before he says anything, and before he makes any rash decisions. 

But the one thing he does know is that he can't live in a world without her in it.


	4. lost.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS A TRIGGER WARNING FOR KIDNAPPING!!!  
> —-
> 
> When their daughter goes missing, Kara and Winn’s world falls apart. They don’t know if they’ll be able to piece it back together again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this a while ago, and now it’s finally finished. I’m super sad about the news that Jeremy will no longer be a series regular, and I’m gonna miss Winn so freaking much, but I’m still gonna write these oneshots because I still love this couple so so much. They inspire me infinitely to create new stories for them, so I hope you all still want to read them! 
> 
> This chapter is a little bit sad, hence the trigger warning. 
> 
> Also, the spacing is a bit weird, but it’s no big deal so I’ll look into fixing it later.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

"Where the HELL is my daughter?!"

 

"Kara, please calm down,” a voice pleads from across the room, and she can only assume it’s Alex.

 

"Calm down?! You want me to calm down?! My daughter is missing!"

 

Kara storms into the main hub of the DEO, practically jumping down the stairs that lead to it. Her fists are clenched, and she wants to scream, cry, and punch someone all at once.

 

Her baby girl is missing. She should be home, doing her kindergarten homework that's disguised as coloring, eating cookies for her snack because it's Wednesday and that's when she gets to have a treat, and cracking jokes that always make her parents die laughing. But no, they just don't know where she is.

 

She's seething with rage, and she's pretty sure everyone can see it on her face.

 

"Kara."

 

The one voice sounds that could even attempt to make her relax, and her gaze shoots to him.

 

Winn's eyes mirror her worry, except his are filled with tears instead of the total and complete anger that she's withholding. She softens instantly and walks over to him, because she knows that he is hurting just as much as her, and they envelop each other in a tight hug.

 

He kisses her cheek as they pull away, and whispers only loud enough for her to hear, "It'll be okay."

 

Kara nods slightly, before turning to Alex and J'onn, "What do we know so far?"

 

Kara was finishing up her assignment at CatCo when Alex had called her in an urgent rush. The older sister was supposed to pick Harper up from school, but, when she got there, she was nowhere to be found on the playground, where the rest of her class was. Alex forced the school to show her a security tape before the police got there, and what she saw made her heart drop into her stomach- Harper, who was walking alone in the hallway to go the bathroom, had disappeared out of nowhere. Her teacher hadn't noticed she didn't come back, being distracted with all the other more needy five-year-olds.

 

An alien. There was no other explanation.

 

Alex turns to her sister, shaking her head slightly and biting her lip. She is in just as much pain as the two parents that stand in front of her, clutching each other's hands desperately, as if one of them wasn't one of the strongest people in the world.

 

Her niece is one of the most important people in her life.

 

She doesn't know what she'll do if something happens to her. She's supposed to protect her, being her big, strong Auntie Alex that will always be there. The thought of her not coming home is too horrible to dwell on.

 

"Nothing, really. Not yet," Alex says, her voice strained with tears, watching as Winn sucks in a deep breath, and Kara squeezes her eyes shut, seemingly wanting to make the world around her, this whole situation, disappear.

 

The mother feels so helpless.

 

She is startled when a hand is placed on her shoulder, and she turned to find J'onn, who was surveying the agents that were hard at work. His face is stoic, with not one ounce of emotion, even though Kara knew exactly what he was feeling.

 

He's Harper's Grandpa J'onn. Every Saturday morning, he comes and picks her up, and brings her to the park and to get ice cream, and, more often than not, the toy store. He loves her so much.

 

Without looking down at Kara, his strong voice booms out, "Listen up."

 

Immediately, the entire room goes silent, and all heads turn to look at their boss.

 

"This case is all too personal for almost everyone in this room. We will see that this little girl gets home to her parents, and all of us, safely or else... I don't know what we'll do. Understand?"

 

All of the agents collectively nod, before returning back to work. The chorus of fingers tapping on keyboards is somewhat comforting.

 

Winn goes to sit back at his computer, but J'onn grabs ahold of his arm before he can.

 

The younger man's gaze shoots to J'onn defiantly, not saying anything.

 

"Winn, you know you can't work on this case. It's too personal."

 

Winn's eyes narrow, and Kara thinks he's about to yell, but he speaks softly, quieter than she thinks she's ever heard.

 

"I know I'm not supposed to, but I-I just really need her to get home safe. I know computers and programming the most out of all these agents. And you know that Kara is going to work tirelessly on this, and you won't stop her," his voice cracks significantly as he speaks, a single tear running down his cheek, his face contorted in exhaustion and distress. "P-please J'onn. Let me help find my daughter. I'm supposed to be her h-hero. W-We're all supposed to her her heroes." He gestures to himself, then to J'onn, Kara, and Alex.

 

J'onn contemplates for a split second before giving Winn a short, barely noticeable nod.

 

As soon as the indication comes, Winn rushes over and throws himself in his desk chair, his fingers typing faster than anyone else in the room.

 

Kara looks to him, and noticed how stiff he looks, as if any wrong move, any key wrongly pressed, will cause irreversible damage.

 

She walks over to him, because she doesn't know when she'll see him again. He's her husband, and she loves him, and she loves coming home to him and cuddling at night, but not when their little girl isn't sleeping soundly in the next room. She won't go home until they find their baby.

 

When she reaches Winn, she drapes her arms around his neck from behind and squeezes lightly. She can feel his shoulders loosen slightly, but she can tell he's still on edge.

 

"We'll find her. I know we will," she whispers quietly.

 

"Me too," he whispers solemnly, his eyes never leaving the monitor in front of him.

 

"I have to go."

 

"Be safe. Please," he says, his voice cracking again.

 

She knows he's scared that he could lose her too.

 

"I promise. Always."

 

She hopes her baby girl can hear her.

—-

 

She has flown around the entire city.

 

There's nothing.

 

Her body and head ache. She feels so weak.

 

She knows she has to go home.

 

It kills her. Her heart hurts, thinking about her baby, who, just this morning she was holding in her arms and dancing around with, curled up in some corner, scared out of her mind because she doesn't know where she is and she doesn't know where her Mommy and Daddy are.

 

She wonders if Winn is home, and if when she flies through the window, there'd be some kind of hope in his eyes that Harper would be clinging to her, the same kind of hope that she can feel rapidly decreasing in her soul.

 

She sees their apartment building in the distance, and can see their light on through the window. She quickly plummets towards the giant brick structure, just like her heart is doing in her chest. Before she enters, however, she hovers discreetly next to the window, gazing in.

 

Winn is perched on the couch, clutching Harper's dirty teddy bear in his hands tightly. The white plush is tinted brown, it's missing an eye, and it's ear is torn, but the little girl still loves it to death. Kara's heart breaks, and tears build in her eyes.

 

She doesn't think she's ever seen Winn look so lost.

 

She doesn't think she's ever felt so lost.

 

Before she can stop herself, loud sobs erupt from her chest, and she's crying for the first time since her world has fallen apart.

 

Somehow, Winn hears her through the open window, and his head swivels around to focus on her. Immediately, he darts up to the window and leans out, reaching for her hand.

 

For the first time, Kara didn't really care about the world seeing her vulnerable.

 

"C'mon, Kara. Come inside, baby."

 

She allows him to pull her through the window, and she promptly collapses into his arms, sobbing.

 

She feels him squeeze her tightly to his chest, rubbing her back soothingly. His chest is trembling under her head, and when he speaks, she hears tears straining his voice.

 

"Shh, Kara. She'll be okay, okay? I promise. She'll come home, and we will never let go of her again."

 

"I feel so wrong, just being here while she's out there," Kara mutters out through gritted teeth, hating the fact that she can't muster up enough strength too fly a little longer and look a little farther.

 

"I know. So do I."

 

"I-I just want to know if she's okay. Why can't there be any sign that she's okay!? I mean, she probably knows it's nighttime now, and she doesn't have her blankie and she doesn't have Snowflake," Kara rips herself out of Winn's arms and paces over to the bear he had placed carefully on the couch. She grabs it, squeezing it to her chest.

 

Kara glances at the bear and her eyes go wide, "It's nighttime. She- She probably doesn't even have a bed! Or anything to keep her warm. A-and she didn't get to have her bath, and she's probably so c-cold. And-"

 

"Kara, Kara," Winn says gently, soothingly, and walks over to her, sitting her on the couch. "She's our strong baby. She's probably being so brave right now, you know that, right? She's just waiting for us to come get her, and she believes in us, especially in her Mommy."

 

His words calm her, at least a little bit. He knows she's still on edge, though, as her chest is still heaving slightly, so he continues to speak softly, "I know you're scared, and I'm scared too. But we have the police and the DEO on this, and we will not give up until our little sunshine is back home."

 

Kara nods, sniffling a bit before leaning her head on his shoulder, "I'm really tired, Winn."

 

"I know," he presses a kiss to her hair, "You can sleep right there if you want."

 

"I-I'm sorry I can't go back out tonight," she whispers, her eyes closing.

 

"Don't be sorry. You need to sleep. Harper is gonna need you to be ready to cuddle for forever when we go get her," Winn says, smiling slightly at the vision the thought forms in his head.

 

Kara doesn't respond, though, and Winn knows that she's already asleep. He gently leans them against the back of the couch, grabbing a blanket from the basket on the floor and covering them. Never once does his arm leave its position, wrapped around her shoulder.

 

He takes his phone out of his pocket, and turns it on so he can stare at his lockscreen. Alex had taken the photo at Harper's fifth birthday party, only a few months ago. He and Kara are holding the small child, whose face and dress was covered in cake, between them, half-posing for the camera and half-laughing uncontrollably because their kid is so damn cute and funny.

 

Kara's glasses are smeared with frosting, and he can almost feel the sticky kiss Harper pressed to his cheek seconds prior to the picture being taken. Should they have let their five-year-old eat cake with her hands? Probably not. But was it one of her favorite birthday traditions? Of course.

 

It's one of his favorite photos of all three of them together.

 

He misses his little star, his mini-Kara, his sweetheart so much that his chest physically aches.

 

He will never, ever not miss her.

 

Not until she's back in his arms.

——

 

It's not until five days after she went missing that they find any lead.

 

By then, everyone is exhausted, emotionally and physically. Winn doesn't think Alex or J'onn have left the DEO since the first day, despite always pushing Kara and himself out the doors promptly after his shift ends.

 

However, when they get a call in the middle of the night from a frantic Alex saying that they're pretty sure they know where Harper is, they get out of bed faster than they ever have before.

 

They don't even go to the DEO. Kara talks to her, gets the information out of her, and tells her to get backup as soon as possible. They don't know what they're going to be up against.

 

They arrive at the place: a large, abandoned factory and warehouse, not even five minutes outside of the city. Kara beats herself up inside: they've been right under their noses.

 

She doesn't know how they found this place, or why they know that Harper is inside. She doesn't care, and she doesn't have time to find out.

 

She turns to Winn, who is standing to her right, clutching her hand. His chest is heaving, and she doesn't know if it's because of their rush to arrive here or the anticipation of the situation. The past days without their girl have been treacherous.

 

"Winn, stay out here. I'll call you when I find her, okay? And then you can come in and get her while I deal with everything else," she speaks quickly, not wanting to waste another moment.

 

Winn doesn't argue; he nods briefly, and with that, Kara rushes into the building.

 

When he hears the trucks of the DEO pulling up behind him, he smiles slightly. He knows that everything's going to be alright.

 

Or, well, he hopes.

——

 

The condition of this place makes her stomach turn.

 

It's so dark, and the ceilings are leaking so there are puddles on the ground. Even if it was in the dead of summer, it would still be freezing at night.

 

The only light was the moonlight flooding through the cracked windows. Her heart drops; Harper hates the dark.

 

There’s no sign of any movement, and danger, or, frankly, any life at all in the large, open building, andfor a moment Kara is convince that her daughter isn’t in here at all.

 

When she's not paying attention, she steps on a flimsy piece of wood that was splayed on the ground. The force of her foot breaks it, and the sound therefore breaks the eerie silence filling the building.

 

In somewhat of a response to the sudden sound, the smallest of familiar whimpers echos off of the walls, and Kara doesn't think she's ever felt so relieved to hear a sound of fear.

 

"Harper?" She doesn't yell- she doesn't want to frighten the girl any more than she already is. She wants to sound as comforting as possible.

 

"Mommy?" She sounds so happy yet so tired and questioning. The word makes Kara's world fall back into place, and tears fill her eyes.

 

She scans the large room for the physical presence ofher child- there's so many places the light doesn't reach, and her superior vision only does so much when she's worked up- and says reassuringly, choked up, "It's me, baby girl. It's me, and Daddy is outside waiting for you. Can you follow my voice to come-"

 

Before she can finish her sentence, there's a little body slamming into her legs and squeezing her torso tightly. Even though Kara knows it's her, she has to look down and make sure, and when she does and sees the mass of dark hair that she has to brush through every morning, she lets out a breath before she promptly starts sobbing.

 

She drops to her knees on the dirty ground and wraps her daughter in her arms. The little girl buries her head into her mother's neck, and Kara can feel the tears wetting her skin.

 

"Oh gosh, Harp," Kara strokes the knotted hair on her daughter's head, a result of it not being washed and the general conditions of the building. "I missed you so much, baby girl. Are you okay?"

 

She feels the tiny head nod, "I'm just happy you came to save me."

 

Kara's heart constricts. She pulls away from Harper, before grabbing her face gently with both hands, "I will always come and save you, okay?"

 

The little girl reaches up and wipes Kara's tears, and, God, she loves her daughter so damn much.

 

"Who took you? Are they here?"

 

Harper shakes her head and shrugs, "He left, I think. He came and left every day. He brought me food and water, but not very much, and he didn’t talk a lot, only sometimes. He was big, and scary, b-but I was brave, Mommy, just like you tell me to be, and I didn't let him touch me and I didn't talk to him."

 

Kara smiles slightly, "I'm so proud of you, Harp. So proud." Her eyes scan the building again, making sure the building is clear. She's frustrated, because she wants to catch whatever bastard caused her family so much pain, but she's also relieved because she can just have a happy reunion with her baby, "How about we leave, okay? And go see Daddy, and Auntie Alex, and Grandpa J'onn? They're all waiting."

 

Harper nods frantically, "I miss Daddy lots."

 

"Daddy missed you, too. So much. We both did."

 

With that, she stands, lifting Harper into her arms. She doesn't plan to put her down anytime soon. She grabs her cape and wraps it around the child to warm her up and stop her shaking.

 

Walking towards the big doors that mark the entrance to this building, she feels whole again.

—-

 

Winn doesn't think he's ever been so nervous in his life.

 

Not when he first asked Kara out, and not when she finally said yes. Not when his father escaped from jail, and not when he found out Kara was pregnant.

 

She's been in the ancient building for what feels like forever. The humming of vehicles behind him and the slight sound of gravel moving as Alex swipes her boot-clad foot across the ground gently keep him somehow calm.

 

He looks over at Alex. Her head is bowed, and the bags under her eyes are stark. He can almost see the beginnings of tears in her eyes reflected in the moonlight.

 

She blames herself, he knows that. He overheard her talking to J'onn, saying that if she got to Harper's school a little bit earlier, she would've been safe. Everyone else knows that isn't the case, though.

 

He reaches over and places a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. She glances over at him, her head still bowed, but she smiles tearfully at him.

 

Suddenly, there's a loud crash in front of them, and their attention is quickly turned to it and their guard is immediately up.

 

The doors to the factory are newly open, blasted that way haphazardly. Winn can feel the tension in the air, radiating off of the agents surrounding him.

 

He sees a figure that looks an awful lot like his wife emerge from the building through the dust that had been created from the door being opened suddenly. There's a silhouette in her arms, the size of their girl, and he lets out a breath he thinks he has been holding since this whole thing started 5 days ago.

 

He hears Alex cry of joy and a murmur of the agents talking excitedly behind him, but they all seem muffled. None of this feels real, and he had started to give up hope- a fact that makes him feel like a horrible father.

 

But now she's here, and from what he can see over the large, sloppy parking lot, she's okay.

 

Before he can process what he's doing, his feet are moving rapidly under him and he's running faster than he ever has.

 

(After all, he was a theatre kid in high school, and his job at the DEO doesn't involve a lot of field work.)

 

He can hear Harper chant, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!", and it makes him want to start crying right then and there.

 

When he reaches his little family, it's as if time stops.  Everything is moving at slow motion, he thinks, as he crashes into them and pulls them into his arms.

 

He feels Harper wrap her arms around his neck and, God, he's never relished this feeling so much in the time the little girl has been in his life.

 

"Baby girl, I missed you so much," he pressed a kiss to her cheek, before going and kissing Kara on the lips. "I love you two so much," he whispers quickly. 

 

Kara smiles at him, and he can see the remnants of tears on her cheeks and shining in her eyes.

 

They're his family; they're all back together.

 

He never wants to let them go again.

—-

 

"Momma? Can I have some more?"

 

Harper waves her cereal spoon in the air, the blanket her parents had promptly set on her shoulders when they arrived home falling down her arms.

 

Kara smiles sadly at her child- she had already had two bowls, informing the mother that she was starving.

 

"Honey, if you eat any more, it might make your tummy upset, okay? You can have some more in the morning," Kara glances at the clock on the stove. It's already 3 A.M. Between the rescue and a trip to the DEO to recover any DNA and other identifying evidence from the kidnapper, as well as a quick health check by Alex, a lot of time had passed.

 

Harper frowned, "But Momma! I'm hungry still."

 

Kara reaches across the table to grasp her daughter's hands, pulling them to her mouth to press a kiss to them. Her heart hurts, because as much as she wants to stop her daughter's hurting, she can't, and it's making her feel helpless, "Sweet girl, come on. It's bedtime, aren't you tired?"

 

The little girl shrugged, "I guess so."

 

"That's what I thought," Kara smiles warmly. "I even think Daddy will let you sleep with us in bed tonight!"

 

Harper's head perks up, her eyes sparkling in excitement. She hasn't been allowed to sleep in her Mommy and Daddy's bed in years, only if she's sick or if she has a nightmare.

 

Kara can tell that Harper doesn't understand the gravity of the situation, and that her parents never want to take their eyes off of her again. That they'll probably put the baby monitor back in her room and have no plans to take it out, for her father's sake. That her mother will probably sit up awake at night, all night, for weeks, honing on her hearing and vision to make sure her child is always snug in her bed.

 

In every peep Harper makes, Kara's heart will start to race.

 

But the little one doesn't know that, not really.

 

She'll probably go back to normal life, more or less, with her typical five-year-old problems. Or, she'll have some nightmares, or she'll even have to go to therapy to fully recover emotionally.

 

But the entirety of the last week will never hurt or seem as resounding to her as it does to her parents.

 

"Hey Mommy?"

 

Harper pulls Kara out of her distracted state. The woman sends a strained smile to her daughter, "Yeah, baby?"

 

"I'm okay. I love you," her bright blue-green eyes shone in a significant amount of understanding, and amount that informs Kara that her daughter is probably the smartest five-year-old ever.

 

"I love you too, baby girl. More than anything," Kara walks around the table and gathers Harper into her arms, squeezing her tightly.

 

She walks with Harper on her hip to her and Winn's bedroom, where the latter is sat up in bed, clutching Snowflake, Harper's bear, in his hands. The toy had been nestled between the couple as they slept all week, as some sort of a placeholder for the daughter that they weren't sure if they'd ever see again.

 

Winn smiles tiredly at his two girls. Kara knows that this week has taken more out of him emotionally than anything ever has in his turbulent life, and slight bags under his eyes break her heart.

 

Harper reaches her arms out to her father, who takes her without hesitation.

 

"C'mere princess," he murmurs, placing her in his lap.

 

Harper grabs Snowflake out of her father's hands. "I missed him lots, Daddy."

 

"I'm sure," Winn replies softly, his eyes meeting Kara's briefly before returning back to his daughter, "But he kept me and Mommy really good company while you were gone."

 

"Really?" Harper asks excitedly. "He's always really nice, huh."

 

"Yep, he sure is, Winn confirms, before taking his daughter off his lap and placing her next to him, where he had positioned her tiny princess pillow between those of her parents.

 

Kara climbs into bed next to them, leaning to kiss Winn on the lips and Harper on the top of the head, "Goodnight. Finally."

 

Winn chuckles softly as Harper drifts to sleep against his arm, "You've got that right." He reaches to wrap his arms around both his wife and his daughter as he relaxed down into the bed.

 

"I'm so glad we're all back together," he murmurs as Kara turns off the bedside lamp, leaving them in the darkness.

 

"Me too. This is all I could ever want and more," Kara feels Winn's grip on her tighten as she speaks, and she doesn't think this feeling of happiness and relief compares to any feeling she's ever experience before, besides that of the day her daughter came into the world.

 

Will they ever know who or what took Harper and caused them so much pain? With the technology the DEO has, probably, but it isn't certain.

 

Will they ever know why who or what did this? Only if they're open to conversation once they're caught.

 

Kara can only assume that the alien that took their daughter was one who she herself had victimized, which gives her an uneasy feeling in her stomach and makes her feel awful, but until they know the truth, she can't focus on that. She has to focus on her daughter, her family, and healing the damage that this situation as done.

 

She doesn’t know what they would have done if they weren’t able to find their Harper, the light of their lives, the main reason they get up in the morning and go to work and do what they need to do to give her the best life possible.

 

They’d be broken beyond repair, she can assume.

 

But they’re not.

 

They’re whole, and Kara has every intention to make sure they stay that way.

 

Forever.


	5. all of the stars.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Winn comes back from his mission to save the future with the Legion, Kara has a surprise waiting for him.
> 
> —or—
> 
> An alternate way that Harper comes into the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, this is a whole alternate thing from the first chapter of this story. The first chapter will remain the canon that I follow in most of these one-shots that involve kids. I just wanted to do this one because I want Winn to come back so bad :’( and I thought it would be interesting to explore this dynamic. If you’re confused, just ask and I’ll answer!

"Hey Winn. Mind if I join you?" 

The cool light from the stars illuminated the balcony outside the headquarters of the DEO, where Winn was leant against the metal railing. He turned to face Kara as she addressed him, and smiled warmly at her. He thought she looked radiant in he glow, but, then again, when didn't she?

"Of course not."

She walked up to stand next to him, gripping the railing firmly. Her mess of newfound conflicting feelings was overwhelming to her, and holding the structure was the only thing she could think of that could bring her back down to earth. 

Winn was leaving for the future tomorrow. 

The announcement shook her to her core, and she wasn't expecting it to. It made her feel as if her chest was caving in on itself, like she was losing a part of herself, and one of her best friends. 

Her best friend.

She hadn't paid him the amount of the attention he deserved since Mon-El had suddenly appeared a year and a half before. Suddenly, at that moment in time, that fact made her hate herself.

She pulled her gaze from the city below, turning her head and looking at his profile. His face was outlined with the bright lights of their surroundings, a slight smile on his face. His hair was tousled in a way it usually wasn't, reflecting the turbulent events of the day. He had just said goodbye to all of the important people in his life to go do something unimaginable. With that, she thought, he was allowed to look a little less trimmed and proper than usual. 

She thought he looked perfect. 

Her heart ached at the thought of letting him leave, at letting him go. Their goodbye had pulled her heart towards him without warning, and in that moment, when she was wrapped up in his arms for the first time in a long time and his eyes were soft with longing and a tinge of regret, she didn't think she ever wanted to leave him. 

Somehow, then, Mon-El disappeared from her mind. The dull ache from their lost relationship remained, but it seemed much less glaring.

All she wanted to do then, though, all alone with him on this balcony that plenty of pivotal moments in her life had taken place on, was kiss Winn.

It was a feeling that she never thought she would have, but it was a feeling that something inside her was telling her she had to do immediately.

Without looking behind her to see if anyone was watching them, Kara turned to Winn, which caught his attention. He turned as well, flashing his bright smile, the one that she hadn't realized until then that she loved so much. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off, "No, I need to do this." 

"Do what?" He tilted his head slightly, his eyes inquisitive. 

"This might be out of line, but I need to-oh screw it.” Quickly, and without finishing her thought, she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted her lips on his. 

Her ultimate fear was that he would pull away for any number of reasons- he wasn't interested in her anymore, he didn't want to make any connections before he left for an indefinite amount of time, anger at her for waiting to express her feelings until the last minute- but he didn't. 

Winn wrapped his arms around her waist immediately, pulling her closer to him, if that was even possible. A warmth he hadn't experienced ever before flooded through his body, as if he was suddenly whole.

Kara tightened her grip on his neck, letting whatever lust or love she was feeling overtake her. She didn't care who was watching them, even though she could feel the eyes of countless DEO agents, undoubtedly including Alex, burning into them.

When they were forced to pull away from each other after what seemed like a lifetime, but not nearly enough time all in one, Kara immediately leaned her forehead against Winn's to keep him close to her, as if somehow that would convince him to stay.

A confused whisper floated over her ears, "Mon-El?" 

She promptly shook her head, and that gave Winn all the information he needed to hear. He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and took a deep breath, trying to soak in the moment.

"You're making it pretty hard for me to leave," he breathed out, accompanied by a soft chuckle. 

"I know, but I just needed you to know how I feel. I couldn't keep it in when you are leaving, when I didn't even know if I was gonna ever be able to say it. You have to go, Winn," she reached a hand to cup his cheek, moving his gaze to her, "They're depending on you."

He nodded slowly, leaning his head into her hand. They stood like that for a minute, before he leant to whisper in her ear, "Come home with me."

The words tickled her ear, and it was as if all of these things were how they always had been. That they've always shown their affection for each other in this way, in front of all these people. That this affection has always shown itself and neither of them were ever hesitant about it, and knew it was always there in the first place. 

Without a second thought, Kara nodded quickly. Her hands found one of his, squeezing it briefly before she squared her shoulders and turned to face the audience that had accumulated around them. She walked briskly through them to go get dressed in her normal clothes, grabbing Alex's arm and dragging the older sister behind her as she went. 

Winn fell gently against the railing of the balcony, gazing at her as she walked away. He wasn't really exactly sure what had just happened, but he did know it didn't feel real. He pinched the palm of his right hand with the fingers of his left gently, and the slight stinging pain that was produced was somewhat comforting to him. 

He didn't have the slightest idea how he was going to make himself leave in the morning. 

Not after that.

\--------

It had been nearly a year, and Kara still felt somewhat empty from the lack of Winn's presence. 

There had been minimal contact with the ship over the stretch of time, only enough to talk business and not bring in any personal matters.

The only thing that made her feel even somewhat connected to Winn was the 12 pound, 10 ounce being in her arms. 

Her daughter. 

Out of pure chance, and what Kara thought was nothing less than a miracle once she grew used to the idea, the single night that her and Winn shared produced the best and most beautiful thing in Kara's life. 

Harper Alexandra Schott was born two months earlier, and she was no doubt her father's daughter. She made the same frustrated face he did when she cried, her dark hair spiked up in the front naturally like his, and, most prominently, her smile absolutely mirrored his. 

And, that day, finally, her dad was coming home.

Kara had tried desperately during her pregnancy to tell Winn about their impending child every time the ship got in contact with the DEO, but the connection either always cut out or Kara wasn't present when the call was made. Once the announcement came that the Legion had been successful and Winn would be returning home, Kara had figured she might as well wait and surprise him. They had waited that long, they could make it another week.

Kara leant against the table placed in the middle of the hub of the DEO, cradling her daughter in her arms. She felt kind of faint and her legs were shaking with nerves, but holding on tight and focusing on her baby made her feel slightly better. 

"Hey, little one. Guess what? Daddy's coming home today. Are you excited?"

Harper blinked up at her mother slowly, and Kara continued, "He doesn't even know it yet, but he's got the best present waiting for him. I just hope he's as excited to meet you as I am for him to meet you." 

Kara smiled softly and stroked the baby's cheek, eliciting a grin from her as well, "You were unexpected, but you're oh so loved. I'm sure Daddy is gonna love you even more than anyone could ever imagine." 

"Kara!" The blonde turned her head at the sound of her sister's voice. Alex sent a reassuring smile her way, sensing her nerves, "It's time. He's here."

Kara sucked in a deep breath and paced over to follow her sister to the port where Winn and the rest of those on the ship would arrive into the DEO. Once they were in front of the large steel door, she stood as straight as she could and clutched her baby closer to her chest.

She could hear his voice through the door; it had a jovial tone, and he was laughing between sentences. She could only imagine how thrilled he was to finally be home, hopefully forever. She just hoped that the tone didn't change when he saw her standing here, with a baby he didn't even know he had.

With a start, the door creaked open in front of her and her sister, and in stepped the man that part of her told herself she'd never see again, or would change his mind once he got back. 

Winn's bright, piercing smile lit up the room as he moved further into the room, his eyes scanning the crowd of agents that came to welcome him back. Once the piercing green of his eyes met the blue of hers, and what she was holding in her arms, his smile dropped slightly, bringing her stomach with it.

He stopped moving forward, and she could see his grip on his bag loosening by the second. He was shocked.

And, if she was being honest, she'd be pretty damn shocked too.

She decided that she needed to initiate any interaction that came next, and started to move forward. The room around them silenced almost immediately, everyone knowing that it was a delicate situation at hand. 

When she was within two feet of Winn, she started to explain before he could say anything, "Winn, believe me, every time you contacted us I tried to tell you about her, but I never got the chance. Connection always went out. But here she is," Kara adjusted the infant in her arms, holding her up higher so the newfound father could get a better look at her.

"She's two months old now, and her name is Harper. Harper Alexandra Schott." 

Kara paused to give him time to process the information, and he quickly murmured out, "She's mine?" 

"She sure is," Kara tried not to let his question sting- she knew he was just in disbelief. "She's a miracle. Look at her- she looks just like you."

That part was true- between her thick dark hair and her bright blueish green eyes, there was no disputing the fact.

He was shellshocked, she could tell. To her surprise, though, he slowly reached out one finger and touched Harper's hand lightly, as if he was crossing over a boundary into undiscovered territory.

Harper stretched her hand when she felt the touch of her father's, and Kara could then see Winn's demeanor soften and loosen as the idea of being a father settled in his stomach. 

"Can I hold her? Please?" He whispered the question lowly and hesitantly, and Kara immediately felt a warmth spread throughout her chest, one that only compared to when her daughter was first placed in her arms, kicking and screaming as the brightness of the world met her.

She didn't expect him to be so receptive to the idea of having a child so quickly, but she could tell that he had formed an instant connection with Harper's wide, curious eyes, like she herself had the moment the baby's eyelids lifted for the first time. Part of her was relieved that he seemingly had very little reservations about it, but part of her was worried because she didn't want it to be hitting him so hard all at once.

"Absolutely. Of course," she whispered, pulling the little girl away from her chest and placing her gently into the awaiting arms of her father.

When Kara felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, she turned her head. She found Alex's warm, reassuring smile, "We're all going to leave so you two can have some time alone."

"Thank you," Kara said, leaning in to hug her sister tightly. The two simple words were not just for the allowance of alone time, but for the entirety of the past eleven months. 

Alex had held Kara when she cried after she realized she was pregnant, providing her sister with all of the encouragement that she could muster even though she was almost as worried as Kara was. She had been there for every ultrasound and every health scare. She had gone shopping every chance she could get, picking up clothes and stuffed animals, and helped Kara pick out the crib and other furniture. 

She had sat with Kara and held her hand throughout the labor, watching her sister cry out, in a mix of pain, fear, and devastation, for the man that wouldn't get to see his first child be born, the man that they weren’t certain was alive. She had spent most of the time cursing him out in her head for not being there for one of the most poignant moments in both he and Kara's lives, but deep down she knew it wasn't his fault.

She was the second person to hold her beautiful niece, and she told the baby over and over just how much she was loved and wanted by everyone around her. She knew Winn would've done the same thing if he was there. 

Alex stayed with Kara every day for a month, helping her to take care of the newborn. They woke up together whenever the baby cried, and she comforted her sister whenever the stress grew to be too much. She had done everything she could possibly have done throughout Kara's pregnancy to make her feel safe and comfortable in a time that was filled with uncertainty, and for that, the superhero would be grateful for the rest of her life. 

Kara knew that the fact that her and Harper wouldn't rely on Alex as much anymore both broke and warmed the proud auntie's heart all at once.

Before pulling away from the long hug, Kara whispered, "We'll still need you. I promise."

She swore that she saw the sheen of tears in Alex's eyes, but she didn't say anything. Instead, the older sister look at her determinedly, "You two are never getting rid of me."

The blonde laughed softly, before her older sister winked and turned and walked away.

Suddenly, it was just them. 

This little mismatched, newfound family. 

Kara swiveled back around to find Winn and Harper in the exact same position as they were in minutes ago. The man's cautious hands were still placed in all the right spots on the baby, and she had cuddled right up to his chest. 

"Kara, she's... she's beautiful," Winn let out the sentence quietly, but it echoed throughout the quiet room.

"That she is," Kara walked forward, brushing the baby's thick, disheveled hair into a more presentable position, "She's the best thing ever. She caused a lot of pain and upheaval, but she's the most perfect thing."

At the mention of pain, Winn's already slacked face dropped. She could see his eyes gloss over with tears. 

"Winn, what's wrong?" 

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there," his voice was strained with emotion, "to hold your hand. Or to help you. You needed me and I-I wasn’t there.”

Kara promptly reached a hand to rest against his scruffy cheek (the result of not being bale to shave for a while, she guessed) and tilted his head so he was looking at her, "Hey, hey. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault." 

He closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath, and Kara leant in to hug him. She couldn't even imagine everything that was running through his mind. 

His head rested on her shoulder through the hug, and it reminded her of that night that everything in her world changed. The night that she wouldn't trade for anything.

They stayed in their position, stagnant and still, until the baby between them started to fuss. Kara laughed as she pulled away, and Winn immediately started bouncing the tiny body in his arms. In moments, she was quiet again, and settled back into her father's chest with a little sigh. 

"You're a natural."

"I'm pretty sure I love you," Winn blurted out quickly.

Kara was slightly taken aback, but she took it in stride- that's just what he does when he's nervous. And, anyway, she was pretty sure she felt the same way.

She laughed, launching herself at him and planting her lips on his. He snaked an arm around her waist, keeping the other firmly on Harper.

She didn't know, until that very moment, that that was all she had ever wanted.

They were imperfect, and shaky, and new, but she had all the faith in the world in them. 

The stars had aligned for them, she's sure of that. 

They had waited so long to be together, through trial, tribulation, different relationships, and doubt, but now they were here. A little family.

She was positive she would never let that go.


	6. good enough.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since she had joined their friend group, Lena had been distant. They would’ve never guessed the reason why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is only slightly winnara, but I had this idea and didn’t want to post a new story to put it into the world. 
> 
> Also, supercorp fandom, please don’t come at me.  
> (this is a winnara book even though they’re only in it for like three seconds)
> 
> And just a reminder, I’m sorry if you think the characters are ooc. I do my best.

Ever since she had joined their friend group, Lena had been kind of distant.

She could only ever hang out on Thursdays, saying that she was tied up with work every other day, and she never let anybody even suggest that maybe they could meet at her place for dinner for once.

Everyone found it odd, but they didn't question it. She was busy, after all- she was the CEO of a huge corporation, one that she was in the process of redeveloping.

Kara had executively decided that she wasn't going to get into Lena's business, even though her reporter brain was telling her to chase after the story. She didn't have the right to be.

She knew the Luthor family had a lot of secrets, secrets that she didn't necessarily want to be a part of.

It wasn't until Winn said something that she felt the need to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Are we inviting Lena to Thanksgiving tomorrow?"

Kara looked over to where he was chopping apples for the pie on the counter from where she was, hovered over the sink, washing dishes, "Yeah, I mean, I don't think she has any other family. I asked her a couple of days ago."

When he didn't respond, she raised her eyebrows, "What?"

"I don't know. It's just- she doesn't share anything with any of us," he turned his body to face her, "How do we know she's being sincere with her friendship and not plotting against us or something?"

"Winn, I don't think she'd ever-"

"But how do you know?" His voice remained steady- he wasn't upset, she could tell, just confused. "It's not that I don't want to trust her. She's really nice and she fits right in with us and our friends. I just don't want anyone, especially you, getting hurt. She knows Alex works with Supergirl, what if she's finding a way to manipulate Alex to get to her, not knowing that you're her?"

"Winn," she dried her hands quickly on the dish towel before walking over to him and placing a hand on his arm, "I'll be fine. Benefit of the doubt, right?"

She felt him relax under her touch, "Okay. I'm just a worrier, that's all."

She leant up to press a kiss to his cheek, "If it's the right time, I'll ask. But I really think she's just a private person, and there's nothing wrong with that."  
——

"Leila, please stop crying for Mommy, sweet pea."

She didn't know how she ended up in this situation.

Lena Luthor, a mother. A single one at that.

Leila Caroline Luthor had come into the world a little more than three months before, completely rocking her mother's world.

When she had found out she was pregnant, Lena was terrified for probably one of the first times in her life. The child's father was long gone out of her world, a short fling that she knew wouldn't last.

If she had known, she would've tried to keep him around a little longer. However, he didn't seem like that great of a guy, and especially not father material.

She didn't think she was mother material either, then. She still didn't.

Throughout the pregnancy, she really didn't know what she was going to do with the baby when it was born. Adoption remained a very, very real possibility until the last minute.

She had gone through labor all on her own, clutching onto the hospital bed rail in the private suite that she thought was much too large for just herself. She had realized, then, just how alone she actually was. The suite was made for people who had large families that were ecstatic for the impending baby to arrived. She had the opposite of that.

She had no one. But she wanted someone.

Keeping her baby was as good a chance as she would get. Not only that, but she didn't want  her child to live the childhood of uncertainty and fright that she herself had.

When the tiniest baby girl she'd ever laid eyes on was placed in her arms, with a full head of black hair and an undeniable spunk, Lena knew she was meant to be the little one's mom. There was no doubt.

But it had started to become more difficult than she thought.

Shortly after she brought Leila home, she realized why children usually have two parents. She never knew that something could cry so much, or need so much. She could barely put the baby down without the shrieks starting up again.

She had hired a babysitter after a month and a half of working from home- part of her needed to go back to work, and part of her needed a break. Swallowing the fear that loomed in her mind that her child would prefer the sitter to her own mother was probably the hardest thing that she would ever do.

Once she met Kara and her friends, she knew that she really didn't want to tell them about Leila. She didn't know if it was the thought of them judging her and losing the few true friends she had, or if it was just the fact that she didn't enjoy asking for help.

She was strong. She was independent. She didn't need help.

But then, it was Thanksgiving. The babysitter was sick, so Lena had stayed home from work, and she couldn't find anyone to cover for her so she could have dinner with her friends. All of her employees and assistants had gone home.

She didn't know what she was expecting; It was a holiday, everyone wanted to be with their families. She had never wished that she had a better one more than in that moment.

It didn't help that Leila wouldn't stop crying and had been diagnosed with an ear infection a few days earlier.

The baby's cries filled the quaint apartment, which she bought after Leila was born because she knew that she didn't want the child to grow up spoiled and entitled.

"Leila, sweetheart, please. I know your ear hurts, I know," Lena said desperately. She was sitting on her couch with the baby cradled in between her legs. Leila's little face was scrunched up, her face an incredibly vibrant shade of red.

As she looked at this tiny, helpless being in such distress, Lena felt tears start to well up in her own green eyes.

"Sweet girl, I've tried everything! I don't know what you want," she started to choke up, brushing a hand down her daughter's warm cheek. She lifted Leila into her arms and cradled her, bouncing her slightly.

Only then did the baby's cries start to subside, becoming whimpers, as she settled herself into her mother's arms. She turned her head and nuzzled her face into the fabric of Lena's mint green pajama top.

"There you go. It's not so bad, huh?" The woman bent her head and pressed a kiss to Leila's beautiful black hair. She was completely content to sit there like that for the entire night if that meant the baby would stay asleep, content, and without pain.

 _Ring_ , _Ring_ , _Ring_

"Shit," she muttered under her breath.

Without fail, Leila started to whine again at the sound of the phone, and Lena felt her heart drop into her stomach. She started to bounce Leila again, before grabbing her cell phone off of the coffee table next to her.

She answered it without checking the caller ID- she needed the ringing to stop as soon as possible.

"Hello?" She knew she sounded irritated, but at that point, she could care less.

"Hey, Lena?"

"Oh, hi, Kara. I'm so sorry, I'm not going to be able to make it to dinner. I'm sorry I didn't cancel earlier."

"Is everything okay?" She sounded suspicious, which made Lena feel even more on edge.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just-"

Leila started crying louder, interrupting her mother's call. Her little hand reached up to tug on her ear, and Lena felt her own heart break a bit.

"What was that?"

"Sorry, it was on the TV. Listen, I really have to go, I'll talk to you later," she said desperately before hanging up.

She immediately pulled Leila closer to her, clutching her as tightly, but gently as she could. She whispered to her, "Shh, baby, you'll be okay."

Lena knew that she had probably just really screwed up with her friends.

In the apartment, though it was occupied by two people, she had never felt so alone.  
——

When she heard the three beeps that signified the other party had hung up, Kara felt a light bulb go off in her brain.

She had stepped away from where Winn, Alex, James, J'onn, and Mon-El were talking over drinks to call Lena. When she didn't show up by 5:00, everyone grew concerned, but didn't push it because they thought she was just running late at work.

However, when she still hadn't arrived at 8:00 and nobody had heard from her, Kara bit the bullet and decided to call. Eliza had already gone back to her hotel to get some rest after the long day, and a lone plate laid full of food on the table, waiting for Lena to come along.

"Hey guys?" Kara turned her body to face the group, who were laughing so much at a story that Winn was telling about his poor attempt at preparing the turkey himself, "I think Lena... has a baby."

The way everyone's heads immediately turned to face her was almost comical, like something out of a bad movie. Silence filled the small space for what seemed like forever, until Alex bit the bullet and spoke.

"Um, what?"

"When I was talking to Lena just now, um, a baby started crying, and it sounded like she was holding it," Kara was a little shocked, to say the least. Of all the secrets Lena could've been keeping, her being a mother and keeping the child a secret was probably last on the list.

Sure, there could've been other explanations for it- it could be a friend's baby, maybe it could've actually been on TV- but none of those exactly lined up.

Everyone still looked immensely confused. "Well, the only way to find out it to go over there," Winn said, "You have her address, right?"

"Yeah, for emergencies, but-" Kara said, but she was interrupted by Alex.

"Did she seem distressed on the phone?"

Kara nodded silently.

"Then it's an emergency. C'mon, I'll pack her food up and we'll bring it to her. Then we can really find out what is going on."  
—-

When a knock sounded on her door, Lena was about ready to rip her hair out.

She had just gotten Leila to actually sleep, even if it was in her arms. It was something she was trying to break the child of- she needed to learn to sleep in her crib- but desperate times called for desperate measures.

She stood gently from her comfortable spot on the couch, her eyes glued on the baby to make sure she stayed asleep.

The change in position, much to Lena's surprise, didn't rouse the infant in the slightest. She stayed peacefully asleep, and Lena figured that all of her crying really wore her out.

The woman slowly made her way to the door. She was too tired to even check through the peephole before the grabbed the knob with her free hand, swinging it open.

Her eyes widened when she took in the sight in front of her, and she felt her heart start to race.

Kara and Alex were standing in front of her doorway, bundled up and covered with snow. In one of Alex's hands was a container of holiday food. Both of the women's eyebrows were furrowed, but their eyes were bright with realization.

"Um, happy Thanksgiving?" Lena said nervously.

"Lena... why didn't you tell us?" Kara asked softly, gesturing the the sleeping child, "We wouldn't have judged you."

For the second time that night, Lena felt tears building up in her eyes, and this time, she couldn't hold them back.

Two tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, "Please, come in. I'll- I'll explain everything."

The sisters crossed the threshold of the apartment, and, immediately, Kara was taken aback by what she saw. Baby toys and books were littered across the floor, and there was a play pen and bassinet tucked into one corner. The kitchen sink was filled to the brim with baby bottles and other cups and plates.

It was far from the pristine, industrial apartment that she had been expecting.

Lena paced so that she was in front of them, picking up a fuzzy blanket covered in elephants from off the couch, making a place for them to sit before she sat in a large rocking recliner, pulling her legs up under her and adjusting the baby into a more comfortable position. At this point, her entire life was now revealed to these women- there was no point to putting on some professional mask.

"I'm so sorry there's such a mess, I-I wasn't expecting anyone and-"

"You've been a bit busy. We can see that. No worries," Alex assured, a small smile gracing her face.

"Well, I guess I owe you an explanation," Lena started, taking in a deep breath, "This is Leila, Leila Caroline Luthor. She's about three and a half months old. It's just me and her."

Saying the fact out loud sent a pang through her heart.

"I never told you about her because... well, because I thought I had her all under control. It was easy at first but it's gotten harder. And I'm not really good at asking for help."

She swallowed the knot that was tightening around her throat, "I have a babysitter during the week until I get home from work, and I have another one for after work on Thursdays so I can get out and have a little fun with you guys. But today, my babysitter was sick and I couldn't get anyone to cover. I had to stay home from work and everything, which I never do, and Leila has an ear infection and only just fell asleep."

Tears started rushing down her cheeks at a much faster pace, "Everything is happening all at once, and I don't know how to slow it down."

"Lena," Kara reaches forward, placing a hand on the other woman's knee, "It's okay to be overwhelmed. I know you always have a lot on your plate, but the addition of a baby of all things, with no one to help you, must make everything just that much harder."

"And it's not wrong to need help. We all need help sometimes," Alex said reassuringly.

"It's just," Lena reached up with her free hand to wiper her tears, "I'm so afraid that I'm not enough for her. That I'm not home enough, and I don't spend enough time with her. I'm so scared that she's gonna start seeing the babysitter as her mom, which would be my own fault, because apparently work is more important to me than my own kid."

Neither Alex or Kara knew how to respond in a way that would prove to be helpful- they had never experienced anything like this before. Silence filled the room, the only sounds being the low murmur of Lena's TV and her quiet cries.

She looked down at Leila, whose eyes had started to open, whispering, "I'm so sorry, sweet girl."

She reached up to wipe her face again, but this time, Leila raised her little arm shakily and placed her hand on that of her mother. Lena moved her hand down to appease the baby, who promptly wrapped her tiny fingers around one of the larger ones.

Lena felt her heart warming in her chest, and it only intensified when the gentlest of smiles formed on her daughter's face.

"I think she knows just exactly who her mom is," Alex said softly, "You don't have to worry about that."

“You’re enough for her, Lena,” Kara promised.

“And don’t worry about getting a babysitter on Thursday nights anymore. I’m sure we’ll all be happy to dote on her,” Alex said, side-eyeing Kara and smirking. “Especially Winn. Winn loves babies.”

Kara elbowed her sister; she did not have time for a baby, no matter how much Winn and Alex tried to coax her into it.

Lena grinned at them, feeling a indescribable weight be lifted off her shoulders for the first time since she had Leila. Promptly, the baby cooed, sending her mother’s attention right back to her.

 _Maybe_ _I_ _can_ _do_ _this_ , Lena thought. _You’re_ _Lena_ _Luthor_. _You_ _can_ _do_ _anything_.

“We’ll be okay,” the black-haired woman whispered to her child.

They would be. She knew it.


	7. god blessed the broken road (that lead me straight to you).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When his child starts asking him about his past, he's not sure how to respond.
> 
> \--or--
> 
> Winn Schott doesn't want his father to ruin any more lives than he already has.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this from a request I got a LONG time ago (I'm bad at any sort of commitment apparently), but I hope the person that requested it is still reading!
> 
> Also, the title is from a Rascal Flatts song, aka the only country song I actually know the words to. 
> 
> (PS. I don't ever really read the chapters back through after I finish them, so if y'all see any glaring errors, don't hesitate to bring them to my attention so I don't look completely grammatically incorrect!!!)

The first time one of his children ask about his upbringing, it's Harper.

She was five-and-a-half, those extra six months being very important when it came to introducing herself.

They were sitting at the kitchen table in their apartment, him, Kara, and Harper. Crayons, markers, and various coloring pages of butterflies and monster trucks were scattered around the table. Harper had strictly assigned who was to color what, which made he and Kara laugh.

It was blissful; this little reality that he and Kara had built for themselves was all he had ever wanted.

The air was quiet and still, until, suddenly, Harper blurted our, "Daddy, how come I've never met my Grandma and Grandpa that are your mommy and daddy?"

It was a trivial question to her, so much so that she didn't even lift her head when she asked it. But to Winn, it was a sort of punch in the gut.

His eyes were wide as he glanced over at Kara, who held an expression that he was pretty sure mirrored his own. He didn't know how to respond- how was he supposed to explain such a heavy topic to such a young child?

He thought he would start with the more simple one.

"Well, you did meet your Grandma. You were probably just too young to remember it," he said, trying to cover up his hesitance.

"Why haven't I seen her since?"

Winn looked at Kara for help, and she took his cue. Even though it had happened years ago, it still hung heavy on his heart.

"Harper, honey," Kara said softly, "Your grandma passed away when you were really little. She had a heart attack, which makes people really sick, and she didn't make it. But she loved you  _so_  much, and when you were a baby, she spoiled you rotten."

Harper looked up from the sheet she was focused on, and while her eyes looked sad at the news, a soft smile was present on her face, "Well, I probably loved her too, right?"

Kara smiled back at her, "The first time that you ever laughed was at her tickling you. She babysat you all the time, and when you took your first steps, she was who you were walking to so Daddy and I could take videos. You loved her a lot, I think."

The little girl nodded slightly to herself, satisfied with that answer. She looked back down at her paper before realizing that part of her question still hadn't been answered. She asked quietly because she could tell that the room was tense,"What about my grandpa?"

"He died, too," Kara said quickly, trying to avoid any other questions about the subject, the subject that should have been lighter and reminiscent, but instead was dark and heavy due to the actions of that one man.

"Did I ever meet him?"

"No," Winn murmured out tensely, "He died before you were born."

"Oh," Harper said quickly and casually before returning to her coloring.

When he knew that she was distracted, he let his body relax and a sigh leave his mouth. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, they immediately met Kara's. They were sad and empathetic. She reached her hand across the table and grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly.

He wasn't sad.

In fact, he was unbelievably happy that his father, the one person that had ever existed that he could say he hated, never met his daughter. His best thing.

The thought of that awful man ever getting near Harper shook him to his core. If he ever let anything happen to her, he would never forgive himself.

He was so glad that Winslow Schott was no longer existent in his world, and never had been existent in the life of his daughter.  
——

The second time, it was Harper again. This time though, he didn't have anyone to save him.

Kara was out with Alex and Lena, shopping for baby clothes and toys for their impending new arrival. After they had Harper, they were positive that they were done and donated almost every piece of clothing and every toy as soon as she outgrew them as a way of keeping the apartment de-cluttered.

However, Harper started asking them for a little sibling shortly after her fifth birthday, which made them start to realize maybe they  _did_ want to have another baby.

(Harper's big green eyes were difficult to resist when she begged for something.)

Kara made him stay home with Harper while she shopped for everything they needed because if she let Winn and Harper loose in the baby section of Target, they'd probably buy every single thing there.

At home, they stayed. They were sat on the couch, Harper snuggled up in her father's arms on his lap as they watched a movie. They had turned the lights down and drawn the shades because Harper insisted she wanted it to feel like a movie theatre.

He just wanted to spend some quality time with her before the new baby came. His daughter was his world, and he wanted to make sure that she knew that she would continue to be his little star even after the new little one joined their family.

"Are you excited to be a big sister?"

Harper looked up at her father, blinking sleepily, "Yeah. I'm happy it's a girl."

Winn raised his eyebrows, "What if it was a boy?"

Harper shrugged, laying her head on his shoulder, "It'd be okay. I just wanted a baby sister."

"Don't tell Mommy this," Winn said softly, his voice turning into a goofy whisper. It made Harper giggle. "But I really wanted it to be a girl too. She wanted it to be a boy."

He lifted Harper's tiny body off of his lap and held her above his head, bouncing her around and making her laugh, "I love being surrounded by all these smart, powerful girls like you and your Mommy and Auntie Alex."

"What is the baby's middle name gonna be? I'm already named after Auntie Alex, so she  _can't_ be too," Harper asked, slightly possessive, as Winn placed her back in his lap. Alex was the absolute coolest and the best person to Harper- if there was going to be any sharing issues, it would be over their Aunt.

"I think me and Mommy agreed on Elizabeth, like Grandma Eliza. Her name will be Darcy Elizabeth Schott."

"If it was a boy, what was its name gonna be?" Harper leaned her head onto her hand, subconsciously asking the question as she watched the movie in front of her.

"I'm not sure, we never thought of a boy name," Winn responded, used to the games of 20 Questions Harper unintentionally wanted to play at least once a day.

"Would you name it after your dad or Mommy's dad?"

"Probably Mommy's dad, or Uncle Clark."

"Why not your dad?"

He felt his heart jump into his throat, but before he panicked too much, he decided to see if the simple answer would work, "I'm already named after my dad. We're wouldn't name a baby after me."

The truth was, he wouldn't want any child of his to have to live in the shadow of what their grandfather had done for the rest of their life. He saw the looks he would receive when he would give his own name to strangers- confusion, fright, and even disgust. He didn't want that to have to weigh in any child's mind as it had on his when he was younger.

"But  _why_? You don't even talk about your dad, even though Mommy talks about her parents all the time."

It was then that he realized he was really going to have to wing it, and that maybe she was ready for the truth.

"Listen, Harp," he said, placing her on the couch next to him and turning his body so he faced her, "I'm gonna be really honest with you, okay? Because you're a big girl and you're so mature and I trust you."

A bright smile made its way onto her lips and she nodded quickly. He grabbed one of her hands gently before speaking.

"My father wasn't a very good person. He did a lot of bad things, really terrible things that you're not old enough to know yet. He hurt me and a lot of other people," Winn said slowly and gently, trying to creep over the thin ice that he found himself upon.

"Is that why you don't talk about him? Because it hurts?" Harper's big, sad eyes pierced his heart. She was wise beyond her mere six years, that was for sure.

"Yeah," he choked out, the unwanted solemnity surrounding him.

"That's okay, Daddy," she patted the hand that was holding hers with her free one. "I don't want to to be hurt. I'll stop asking."

She leaned her body to snuggle into him and within what he swore were seconds, she was snoring.

When Kara arrived home, shopping bags slung over one arm and the opposite hand resting instinctively on her swollen belly, she could immediately tell something was up with her husband.

The credits of a movie were rolling on the TV and he was blankly staring at them. His eyes seemed to be glazed over and stressed. Despite that, though, he still had his arm wrapped protectively around the shoulders of his sleeping daughter.

"Babe?" Kara called hesitantly from the front door. His head turned immediately at the sound of her voice like she had spooked him.

"Oh, hey, Kara," he responded quietly, and he couldn't tell if it was because of the child to his right or if it was due to his apparent internal conflict.

"Could I have a hand?" She asked sheepishly, waving the plethora of too-full bags on her arms as she struggled to slip off her boots.

"Oh! Of course," Winn quickly repositioned Harper onto a pillow gently and jogged over to his wife, taking the bags from her and groaning under the weight, "What the heck did you buy!?"

"All of the stuff the baby will need for at least the first year, plus some things for Number One so she won't feel left out," Kara said, leaning up to kiss him after he put the bags down.

He sent her a soft smile, one that didn't seem real. It concerned her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She inquired, walking over to the couch with her hand clutching his.

Winn sighed as he fell back onto the piece of furniture, scratching the back of his neck, "Uh, Harper asked about my father again."

Her face fell as she leaned over and placed her head on his shoulder, "Oh. I'm so sorry I wasn't home."

He shrugged, "Yeah, I mean, I think she dropped it now though. I told her that he wasn't a good person, and she could tell it upset me so she didn't ask any more questions. Then she fell asleep, as you can see."

Kara nodded, "When do you think we should tell her the whole truth?"

"I-I don't know. But I don't want to think about it anymore tonight," he said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Why don't we get the munchkin to bed and then watch a movie that doesn't solely involve singing trolls," he suggested.

"I think that's a great idea."  
——-

The third time, it's both of his children, and the truth finally comes out.

"Hey, Dad?"

Harper, now eleven, and Darcy, five, approached their father slowly to where he was sitting up in his and Kara's bed scrolling through his email. He saw them, clad in her pajamas, in his peripheral vision and looked up as soon as she spoke.

"What's up munchkins?" He asked brightly, closing down the top of his laptop and patting the spot next to him on the bed.

Harper hesitated, glancing down at the screen of her phone that was clutched so tightly in her fist, her knuckles were white. Darcy stuck to her sister's side, one arm wrapped around the older girl's waist and was sucking her thumb with the other. Her eyes were big and sad.

Winn furrowed his eyebrows at the worried look on the faces of his daughter, "What's wrong, Harp?"

His mind immediately jumped to conclusions: she had broken the damn thing, she was being cyberbullied, somehow someone found out her mother was Supergirl.

He didn't even want to ever buy her a phone. He didn't want her to be reliant on technology and figured that sooner than later she would be perfectly capable of saving the money for one herself. However, after she was kidnapped when she was little, since he couldn't just not let her leave his sight for the rest of his life, he thought that getting her a phone was the next best thing.

She was responsible with it, and always told her parents when something was wrong. That was all he could ask.

He could see her hand shaking as she turned the phone. The illuminated screen hit his eyes in a flash, and the picture on it made his heart drop.

"A-are we  _related_ to him?" Harper asked shakily.

A photo of his dead father's mugshot stared mockingly back at him, the sick smile on the murders face enough to make Winn feel nauseous.

The headline below the picture read in bold black letters ' ** _The 25th Anniversary of the Toyman Murder.'_**

His palms grew sweaty as his daughter's almost betrayed gaze bore down on him. He hadn't even realized that today was  _that_ day. He felt almost forced to speak.

"Yes. He's my father."

Harper frowned, climbing into the bed next to her father, Darcy following suit, "What the heck?"

"I take it you read the article?" When she nodded, he continued, "Well, I think you can answer that question yourself. He ruined my childhood. I was in foster care from eleven until I was an adult. That's why I never told you. I didn't want him to ruin anything for you two either."

Harper looked down at her hands, twiddling her thumbs, "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Me too," Darcy said quietly, wrapping her arms around one of her father's. He could tell he didn't understand fully what was going on, but like her sister, she was an old soul. She could read the mood of a room in a split second and immediately conform to it.

"I'm okay now. It still hurts sometimes, I'll give you that. He was my dad," he wrapped his free arm around Harper's shoulder.

"If I hadn't gone through all of that, I probably wouldn't have ended up working where I worked. I probably would've worked for the family business."

"That means you wouldn't have met Mommy?" Harper asked softly, her dark eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh no!" Darcy exclaimed, making the two others laugh.

"And it means neither of you would exist. Without your Mom and you guys, I don't think that my life would be all that great," he affirmed.

Harper smiled slightly up at him before burying her head into his chest. She was visibly trying to work through all of the information she had just received.

"I love you, Daddy," Darcy said sweetly, squeezing his arm tighter.

"Me too! You're the best dad ever," Harper chimed in.

That remark warmed his soul to its greatest capacity. Ever since Harper was born, he was afraid that something was going to trigger inside of him and he would become his father. However, he knew now to put that fear to rest.

"I love you too," he kissed each of his daughter's heads.

Silenced then surrounded him, and he realized that he had never been in such peace.

He loved his family, he loved his job, he loved his friends, he loved his wife. He didn't think anything else could compare.

When Kara finally got out of the shower, she walked into the bedroom to find her husband flanked by her two sleeping daughters, she knew something must've happened- they, especially Harper, hadn't slept with them in years. She didn't have the heart to ask what.

"I see we're not sleeping alone tonight?" She said, raising one eyebrow at him as she brushed out her hair and sat on the sliver of available space on the bed.

Winn shook his head, a look of pride brightening his face as his gaze went from Darcy to Harper, and finally to Kara.

"I think we should enjoy it. They're not going to be little for much longer."

He didn't need to think about his father anymore, or the horrible things he did. Sure, there was an underlying pain in his heart whenever some kind of anniversary came up that involved Winslow Schott Sr. but it was shoved away by happiness.

He was  _so_ happy.

There was no room in his life or his soul for his father and his actions to weigh down on him any longer.

Between him and his two incredible, smart, charming children, the Schott name would be redeemed.

He was looking forward to the day they change the world.


End file.
